Worth The Wait (NC-17)

[HumbugGirl]

This is an answer to a challenge that was set on TBT list, if you want to know the details them PM me and I'll send up them, otherwise, they'll be posted at the end of the fic.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Title: Worth the Wait
Author: HumbugGirl
Email: humbuggirl@hotmail.com
URl: http://www.geocities.com/peacefulempress/home.html
Pairings: Chloe/Lex, Pete/Lana
Rating: Probably at least R and likely to rise knowing me.
Summary: Answer to Starfireimpress’ challenge on TBT
Spoilers: None really.
Disclaimer: So not mine in any way, shape or form. If they were, we all know what couple would be together.
Author’s Notes: 1) Silly fic because as we know this would never happen. 2) Lana and Pete are married, now I know that by that point in theory Clark and Lex should be enemies but they’re not in this. 3) This isn’t going to be a long fic because I don’t have the time to write one at the moment.
Feedback: Must desired.

1.

Chloe watched as Lana opened her mouth once, twice and then a third time, closing it briefly between each and managing to make her self look somewhat fish-like. In any other circumstance the blonde reporter across from her would have found the look amusing and might even have laughed outright but considering her own discomfort with the direction in which their conversation had taken she knew she shouldn’t be even considering reacting in such a way. Finally Lana stopped her aquatic animal impressions just as Chloe picked up the cup of coffee which had been sat on the counter top before her and raised it to her lips to take a much needed sip and to cover the smile that had threatened. Unfortunately the somewhat stunned expression that her lifelong friend had been sporting was immediately replaced with another much worse one where her face creased into a frown that made the pretty brunette look more than a little constipated.

“Oh for god’s sake say something,” Chloe exclaimed when Lana had been stood in the same position for nearly five minutes with no sign of the situation changing. She placed her cup back down, letting it clunk slightly against the counter top carelessly so that a tiny amount of the liquid spilled over the side.

“I-I don’t know what to say,” Lana said finally looking up at the blonde woman across from her from underneath her eyelashes still too stunned to let any of the nervousness she was feeling show through in her voice. “How is that even possible?”

“It’s possible,” Chloe replied dryly and yet she was unable to prevent a slight blush rushing to her cheeks.

Lana leaned forwards and said quietly as if a conspirator, “But you’re what - twenty-eight? I mean, Chloe, are you sure?”

Looking around nervously and observing that there was no one near enough to hear her if she was quiet enough Chloe said, “I think I would have noticed something like loosing my virginity Lana and I’m pretty sure it hasn’t happened yet.”

Lana leaned back again; rocking on her heals slightly even as her elbows rested on the counter and bit her lip. “But you’re twenty-eight!”

“Lana that isn’t very helpful!” Chloe snapped. “I just… never got around to it.”

“How can you not get around to having S.E.X?”

Chloe rolled her eyes, trying to suppress the redness that had flown to her cheeks. “It amazes me that you clearly have done it and yet you can’t even bring yourself to say it.”

“But Chloe! I always thought that… I mean, I always imagined that you’d… I…” The brunette woman stopped and took a deep breath. “I mean, look at you! You’re successful, you’re pretty and you have a great personality… I don’t understand.”

The blonde woman shrugged, rapidly finding herself increasingly regretting that the subject had even come up in the first place. It was all Lana’s fault anyway for asking for relationship advice where Pete was concerned and how was she supposed to know that the café owner would managed to swing things around to the subject of sex when Chloe wasn’t looking? That thought firmly in mind Chloe put a small scowl on her face and said, “It is not as if I never wanted to have sex. It’s just that things kept getting in the way. Half of the time it felt like there was some cosmic force out there dead set on preventing me from ever managing to actually, you know, do it.”

It was Lana’s turn to raise a sceptical eyebrow. “A cosmic force?”

“I know its sounds silly but it’s true. Do you remember Tony?” Lana nodded. “Well you remember how we played around each other for nearly four months before taking that trip down to Costa Rica?”

“Sure, you were all excited about it at the time.” Lana’s eyes widened suddenly at realisation hit her. “Ooh!”

“Yes, ‘ooh’! There was a goddamn hurricane and he was knocked unconscious by a flying tree then spent the next two months in hospital before anything could happen.”

“But what about afterwards…”

“I’d already been transferred to London to work in the offices there,” Chloe explained.

“But that’s only one time and you’ve had lots of boyfriends. What about that guy you met in Rome – what was his name? Federico!” A smile slipped onto Lana’s features. “I remember the pictures you showed me when you got back; he was yummy and don’t you deny it.”

Chloe laughed a little. “I’m not going to deny it. But he was also overly religious and believed in waiting until after marriage.”

“Really?” Lana asked with a disbelieving look on her face.

“You honestly think I would have turned down a bit of that if it had been offered to me?”

The smile returned. “No, I guess not. Hell, I wouldn’t turn down a bite of that if it was offered to me.”

Chloe laughed along with her. “I think the closest was probably Caleb.”

Reaching for the pot to refill Chloe’s cup Lana said, “I don’t think I remember him.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if you didn’t, it was kind of short-lived.”

The brunette turned away again for a moment to grab a couple of muffins from the basket by the till but on coming back she said, “So who was he?”

“Someone I met while I was working in Gotham,” the blonde replied and Lana’s eyes lit up.

With a small suggestive little smile she said, “And that brings up the whole subject of Bruce Wayne.”

“There was never anything between me and Bruce despite what the papers may have said at the time,” Chloe protested bringing her hands up slightly. “Bruce is a lovely guy but he couldn’t sit through an entire meal without getting a phone call that meant he had to rush off somewhere. Besides, he was way too secretive for my liking.”

Her comment caused Lana to nod understandingly. “I know *that* feeling. So what happened with that Caleb guy?”

Chloe shifted uncomfortably on her seat and glanced off away from Lana’s inquisitive eyes. “Well, he was lovely, really he was and he had mountains of seductive charm and all that but it also turned out he was also something of a sociopath hell bent on destroying Batman and claiming Gotham as his own.”

“You’re kidding?”

“Nope.”

Lana shook her head in amusement. “Okay then, but what about that Martin guy?”

“Married,” Chloe answered bluntly and then took a sip of her coffee.

“Simon?”

“Gay.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“But he was so…”

“I know,” Chloe answered. “I couldn’t believe it at first either.”

A chuckle escaped the brunette as she said, “You really can pick them.”

Chloe only smiled briefly as she noticed something flicker through Lana’s eyes and the uncomfortable feeling settled in her that the other woman was planning something.

* * * *

The looks on their faces when she told them was priceless; probably because it was one of the last things that either men had been expecting to come up over Sunday lunch at the Ross’. Looking at the expression on her husbands face Lana placed down the freshly refilled dish of potatoes she had been carrying and pulled off her oven gloves, tossing them over onto the counter and then taking her seat at the kitchen table. Settling herself down she began to dish out the food to the two men while she said, “You can’t tell anyone though.” Looking up as she let carrots spill over the side of the spoon and onto Pete’s plate she repeated her warning and added, “Guys, promise me.”

“But…” Pete began and then shut up as Clark interrupted.

“I don’t believe it,” he said. “I mean, this is *Chloe* we’re talking about she… um… I mean she…”

“Clark shut up and save yourself now,” his friend suggested even as he turned to Lana and asked, “And she wasn’t drunk when she told you this?”

“Stone cold sober,” Lana replied and glanced at Clark as he spluttered something else and then finally shut up. The flushed look that appeared on Pete’s face earned him an added, “And if you laugh then you’ll find yourself even worse off than she is.”

The man immediately turned serious though there was a pleading ‘please don’t’ look in his eyes that made Lana want to smile even more. “Why do I think you’ve not just telling us this for the sake of it?” he asked instead.

“Because I’m not,” Lana replied perkily. “I’ve decided that we need to help her out.”

The two men looked at each other for a second and then both started shaking their heads. “Oh no,” Pete said holding up his hands. “There is no way in hell that I’m getting involved in the middle of that mess.”

“I’m with Pete,” Clark agreed. “Chloe would kill me if she ever found out. She’s only just forgiven me for the last time I decided to interfere in her life.”

“But Pete…” the woman said letting a slight whine into her voice.

“No.”

“Pete… It’s what a good friend would do.”

He shook his head again. “Then I’m clearly not a good friend but I’m happy that way so let’s leave it like that.”

She pouted and said, “Anyone would think you didn’t love me.”

“Oh no, that one isn’t going to work.”

“You don’t love me!” Lana exclaimed, wrinkling her face into a frown and putting a pained expression in her eyes.

“Honey…” Pete said quickly, standing and moving around the table to pull her into a hug. “Don’t say that. Of course I love you.”

“But you won’t help me out on this one little thing…” she whimpered, putting a hand on his chest and pushing away from him.

“It’s hardly little,” Clark said in the background but to Lana’s delight he was completely ignored by Pete.

“Just this one little thing,” Lana said softly, curling her lips in a coy little smile and letting her hand play across his chest. “One little thing and I promise I’ll make it up to you later.”

Pete gulped and shifted uncomfortably from one foot to another as he looked into his wife’s eyes. Abruptly he turned his head to one side to look at his best friend and said, “You know, it can’t really hurt.”

Clark shook his head in disgust. “You’re so whipped.”

“Yeah but at least I know I’m getting some tonight,” his friend responded with a broad grin, earning himself a smack on the arm from his wife at the same time. Returning to his seat Pete added, “So what’s our part in this grand master plan you have in mind?”

Sliding back into her chair Lana shifted uncomfortably for a moment. “I need you to help me pick out a man,” she said earning more shocked looks from them.

“I think you’d know better what to look for than we would Lana,” Clark said turning to stare at his plate intensely and tried to ignore the disquieting feeling that had settled into his stomach.

Lana smiled at him and said, “Don’t worry Clark; I’m not going to ask you to do it. I know you’re involved with someone back in Metropolis and besides, it would be just too weird and I’m not sure Chloe would go for it anyway. No, it has to be someone different, someone she wouldn’t normally have thought of. He’d have to be, um, intelligent enough to understand the situation and not make a joke out of it and probably a little sympathetic. He’d have to be charming and kind and yet there’d have to be something about him that was a little dangerous…”

“Lana sweetie, I love you,” Pete said with a grin, “but there is no way in hell you’re going to get me to sleep with Chloe. I’m a married man.”

Clark chuckled and Lana shot a glare across the table at her husband. “I don’t think Chloe would go for it anyway sweetheart, contrary to what you believe not all women want to fall at your feet Pete. Besides, I think it should be someone who intrigues her, someone she could get interested in on more than a purely physical level…” From the corner of her eye Lana saw Clark wince.

“What?” Pete asked, apparently noticing the same thing his wife had.

“Well,” Clark said slowly. “You know who she just described.” At the blank look on his friend’s face Clark said, “Come on Pete who the hell do we know who all those things and more? Think, who do we know who is mysterious and intriguing and charismatic?”

“Sorry, still drawing a blank.”

“Lex!” Clark exclaimed in exasperation and Lana’s eyes lit up.

“Ooh! He’d be perfect,” she said even as Pete exclaimed a protest of ‘no way man’.

“You can’t be serious,” Pete said.

Clark cocked his head to one side, a confused expression coming over his features are he said, “But I thought that you and Lex were getting along okay at the moment.”

“We are but asking him to do something like that… I mean, that’s like asking him to date myself sister or something and I’m not that comfortable with the man.”

“Too bad,” Lana said with a grin. “You’re outvoted.

”Lana…” the man whined.

She shook her head. “He’s perfect and you’re not going to talk me out of it.”

“Should I be jealous?” Pete asked with a grin.

“Of course not sweety, just because he’s rich, cultured and handsome doesn’t mean I’d give you up for an instance. Besides, I think you should be more worried about Clark; he’s the one who thinks Lex is charismatic.”

Two sets of eyes turned on the third party and Clark blushed. “Shut up Lana.”

[drina]

this sounds really interesting...i can't stand to wait for the next chapter, but i know it'll be worth the wait.... ;) LOL

Hurry up, ok?

[petriebird18]

Can't wait to read more, although i have a feeling that althought this is in the NC-17 topic there'll be a lot of angst later on when Chloe finds out she was 'set up' with Lex and he was in on it the whole time.
OH, WELL! :biggrin: Write more!
~Deidre~
:chlexsign3:

[sabby]

LMAO Oh this is going to be great, I just know it!

Please, please update soon, I soo can't wait to see Lex's reaction *G*

hugs,
Sabby

[Sunflow]

LOL... I must say, that must have been... an interesting challenge. Such bad luck, poor Chloe X_x
Great beginning, I hope that in next chapters Lex will show Chloe good :smut: . Hmmm did I just say good? I meant *the best* of course ;P


Sunflow

[hfce]

Carmen :lol: I love it. I can't wait to see what Lex will say about this.
More please......


Hope
:chlexsign2:

[riblets]

Oh man, this is shaping up to be really amusing. Continue, man, we can't wait!

[NightGlow]

OMGosh, that last quip from Lana nearly made me pee my pants!

Please continue, the idea of Chloe as a 28 year old virgin is just too humorous to bear!

[Impress]

Ok, already reviewed once but doing so agian. Great job. I like what your doing with my challenge and can't wait to see Lex's reaction.

[zwabby]

wauw! can't wait, I wonder what lex will say ..

[crazygirl]

That's just hilarious. I never thought I would say that, but you gotta love Lana in this fic. I mean, she *is* trying to "help" Chloe with a certain problem... and she realized that Lex is just perfect for her.

[TwirlWriter]

Hehehehhe that is too good! I'm really enjoying this please update soon!

[bluemoongirl23]

Hee. Clark loves Lex *singsongy voice*. Sorry, had to be done. Can't wait to see where this goes and how Lex is going to react to their little plan. Or, Chloe for that matter, when she finds out.....

Blue

[xmag]

Oh my god, i can see it, Lana goes to the Mansion :

- Lana : Lex, i have a proposition for you. A friend of mine wants to get rid of her virginity, and you are the perfect candidate, what do you think ?

- Lex : Lana, are you stoned ?

- Lana : i am just being a good friend !! honestly, can't i help people ? by the way, this friend is Chloe Sullivan.

- Lex : fainted on his carpet !!

- Lana : men, all weaklings, Lex, wake up, you haven't heard the rest of the story ?

- Lex : the rest ? there's more ?

- Lana : yes, it seems there is a cosmic force preventing Chloe to loose her virginity : a hurricane, a gay, a married guy, a religious guy, a crazy guy....
so, before setting up the "Chloe plan", check up for the weather, in case another tornado hits SV. You haven't got married again since the last time ? no gay tendancy, or should i say Clark tendancies ? you don't plan to conquer Metropolis and the planet ? and........, Lex, Lex, damn it, that's not funny, wake up, you have Chloe to take care of !!! :worship2:

[Blu_FireFly81]

Originally posted by HumbugGirl@Jun 9 2003, 12:11 PM
“Should I be jealous?” Pete asked with a grin.

“Of course not sweety, just because he’s rich, cultured and handsome doesn’t mean I’d give you up for an instance. Besides, I think you should be more worried about Clark; he’s the one who thinks Lex is charismatic.”

Two sets of eyes turned on the third party and Clark blushed. “Shut up Lana.”
Sooo cute poor clark!

:goof:

[celticangel]

I love the concept and I can't wait to see how Lex reacts. :yay: :yay:

[xmag]

You HAVE TO update this fic, it is a must !! will you write a scene where Lana asks Lex to take care of "Chloe's problem" ? that would be a "scene of anthology" as we say in France.

Please, please, update this fic soon.

[Blaire023]

puh lease up date this, i swear I'll start leaving my feedback in mini smut scenes in this little box here, i just really want another damn chapter.

<frowns>

B

[asy]

HEY&#33; ahhh..update ASPAP&#33; please&#33;&#33; cant wait to see what happens&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33; gotta <33 :chlexsign1:

[HumbugGirl]

Thanks for all the feedback guys... I&#39;m sort of trying something new and writing this one as I go along so while I&#39;m trying to get the parts out as quickly as possible its taking me a little longer than usual.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2.

When Pete first ambled downstairs the next morning and found Clark leaning against the counter in his uniform jeans and flannel shirt that he always seemed to wear when he wasn’t in Metropolis he felt a sudden urge to turn right around and walk back upstairs. The previous night, the dinner during which he had discovered some very disturbing information about one of his childhood friends, came quickly back to haunt him and he winced at the idea that he had allowed himself to be dragged into doing something so stupid as to ask Lex Luthor to seduce his friend. It actually even sounded laughable in the light of a new day and for the briefest moment Pete held onto the hope that he had dreamt the whole thing.

It lasted until Clark turned around to look at him with a bright, sunny smile on his face and said, “So are you ready?”

“For what?”

“I thought we could go and see Lex and get things underway.”

Pete paused, his foot hovering before the last step that would take him down into the kitchen proper then abruptly turned and started to make his way back up. He was stopped by the feeling of a hand on his arm and then Lana was turning him around again and pulling him down into the kitchen, firmly seating him at the table. Moments later breakfast appeared before him and once he was finished with it he found himself being dragged out of the door and towards Clark’s car.

“I can’t believe we’re doing this,” he said slumping into the set and dragging the seatbelt across his middle. “I mean, I really, really can’t believe that we’re doing this. Actually, I’m not sure I can do this. I mean what are we going to do? Walk isn’t the mansion and go, ‘hey, guess what Lex? Chloe’s a still virgin and we want you to pop her cherry.’”

“Pete&#33;” Clark exclaimed, spinning around to look at his friend as the other man brought a hand up to his head and rubbed his brow.

“Sorry but it’s just bizarre.”

“I know but we promised Lana.”

Pete cast a wry expression in the other man’s direction as they pulled out of the Ross’ driveway and set off towards the Luthor mansion. “She’s my wife; you shouldn’t be the one worrying about breaking promises.”

“I know,” Clark said shrugging his massive shoulders. “But we still shouldn’t let her down. And besides…”

“What?”

“Well, I was thinking about it last night and it’s actually a fairly decent idea.”

Once again Pete found himself looking at Clark disbelievingly. “You’ve been brain washed.”

“No I haven’t. Listen, if we present this to Lex just right then he’ll go for it and despite whatever doubts that you might have about him Pete he’s a decent guy and he’ll, well, he’ll know what to do. I trust him.”

“Clark, I would trust the guy with my car, I’d trust him with my house, my finances and my job. I would not however trust him with a woman. Never a woman.” Leaning back into his seat Pete thought with a glimmer of hope, “Does Lex even like blondes?”

“He does.”

“Are you sure because I’ve never seen him with one before?”

Clark glanced at him again out of the corner of his eye and flexed his fingers around the car’s steering wheel. “Lex likes women in general. I don’t think he really minds what colour their hair is.” As a smug smirk began to appear on Pete’s lips the man added, “It’s more their minds he’s interested in.”

Pete rolled his eyes as he asked, “Clark, you have seen the women that Luthor dates haven’t you?”

“Of course I have.”

“Then you should have noticed the similar trend that in present in just about all of them – they’re all tall, brunettes and built like they should be in a swimsuit catalogue. Its common knowledge that Lex Luthor has never dated a girl without breasts that could have kept them afloat it they were ever stranded in the middle of the ocean.”

Clark chuckled in spite of his desire to try and appear stern. “Well then he shouldn’t have a problem with seeing Chloe then.”

Grinning at his friend Pete replied, “That wasn’t meant to be an argument in favour of this idiotic plan.”

“Then you shouldn’t have brought it up. Come on Pete, just give it a go. What’s honestly the worse that can happen?”

“He can laugh his ass off and then go and tell Chloe what we said so that she’ll never speak to either one of us ever again.”

“That’s not going to happen,” Clark said. He leaned forwards slightly, hunching over the steering wheel of his car as he peered around the corner before turning onto the Luthor estate. “Come on, just relax, everything will be fine.”

Pete mentally repeated his friend’s words in his head and settled back against his seat once again.

They found Lex sitting in the breakfast room of the mansion, a hearty looking meal out on the table before him that looked like considerably too much for one person to eat. When the man looked up and saw the two childhood friends stood in the doorway he smiled brightly and held out a hand to them. “Clark, Pete, I wasn’t expecting you today. Would you like something to eat?”

Shaking his head Pete said, “No thanks, Lana already cooked me up a mountain.”

The man laughed and reached for the steaming cup of coffee that was resting on the table before him and brought it to his lips. “So to what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?”

The two younger men shifted uncomfortably on their seats and glanced at each other nervously. Changing his mind Pete reached towards the coffee pot and poured himself a cup in an effort to avoid answering the question. He looked at Clark over the rim of the coffee cup, noting the sour expression that Clark was casting in his direction as he realised that he would be left to answer.

“Well?” Lex asked sensing the tension in the room.

Clark’s features wrinkled into a frown. “This isn’t exactly how I pictured this,” he said.

“Pictured what exactly?”

“Well…”

“Oh for gods sake,” Pete said finally. “Clark has a proposition for you.”

Lex raised an eyebrow as a degree of interest entered his eyes. “Oh?”

Shooting another ‘gee thanks’ look at Pete, Clark shuffled around on his seat once again and said, “Actually it’s more like a favour.”

“Okay. Care to elaborate?”

Clark shook his head slowly but answered anyway. “You remember Chloe right?”

The business man nodded his head slowly, comprehension evading him for the present. “Didn’t her father used to work for me? Wasn’t she that cute little blonde, right? She used to run the school newspaper.” He sat back for a moment in his chair and thought. “Doesn’t she work for a newspaper in New York now?”

Letting a small smile drift onto his face Clark ducked his head a little and said, “You’ve kept an eye on her?”

“No more than any other award winning reporter. But seriously, I happened to run into her father the other day while I was out in town. We haven’t had much of an opportunity to talk since he retired so I bought him a coffee and we talked for a while.” Lex smiled. “Gabe Sullivan’s favourite topic of conversation always was his daughter.”

Pete found himself smiling understandingly. It didn’t matter that he still exchanged regular emails with the blonde woman whenever he happened to run across Gabe in town then the man would always go out of his way to inform him of whatever the girl had been up to last. Still, it didn’t escape his notice that Lex had as good as admitted that he at least to some extent kept an eye on what Chloe was up to. Considering his present situation he couldn’t decide whether that was a good thing or a bad thing but either way he couldn’t help but also notice the way that Clark’s eyes had lit up.

“So you remember her?” he asked as if to clarify the point.

“Sure I do,” Lex nodded. “I mean, the girl did get tossed through a window here.”

Clark flushed as if the memory embarrassed him. “Yeah.”

“So this favour has something to do with Chloe I take it? Is something the matter? Is she in trouble?”

Pete found himself biting his lip and not entirely believing he was about to say what he was going to say. Glancing once again at Clark and realising that there was no way in hell that his somewhat bashful friend was ever going to be able to finish the conversation without getting himself so upset he passed out Pete grabbed hold of whatever courage he had left yet and said, “Not exactly.”

“I must admit the suspense in agonising but if one of you doesn’t tell me what is going on soon…”

“Chloe needs your help&#33;” Clark blurted out and smiled sheepishly when the two other men turned to look at him. “That didn’t come out quite how I meant it to.”

With a smirk Lex replied, “I somehow guessed that.”

“I think the reason that Clark is starting to resemble a moron,” Pete said and earned a glare from his friend. “Is that this is actually a little sensitive.”

Glancing between the two men Lex replied, “I assure you that anything said in this room stays here. Now, what’s the matter with Chloe?”

“Well, we’d sort of…” Clark began only to be interrupted by Pete.

“Oh no, don’t blame this one on me. It’s was all yours and Lana’s idea.”

Clark rolled his eyes and then continued. “Well, Lana and I, well we, um, kind of want you to, um, seduce her.” He stopped short, the words coming out abruptly and stared expectantly at Lex. The man in question just stared back at him, his face as blank as it had been moments before making it seem almost as if Clark had never spoken at all.

“Excuse me?” he said finally and his voice went up in the end in a little chuckle. “I could have sworn you just asked me to seduce Chloe Sullivan.”

“Yeah, I kind of did,” Clark confirmed and then watched as Lex’s mouth fell open and a stunned expression flew over his features. He stood up suddenly and took a couple of steps away from the table before stopping in the middle of the room turning back to it.

“I was afraid you’d say that,” the bald man said finally.

Pete let his eyebrows go up in a silent question even as he followed suit and climbed to his feet before said, “You don’t want to do it? Good. Come on Clark lets go pester someone else.” He reached towards Clark’s arm in order to tug him in the direction of the door, desperate to get out of the situation as quickly as he could.

“Wait, what do you mean go and find someone else? What the hell is going on here?”

The exasperation in the other man’s voice made Pete stop in his vain efforts to get Clark to his feet. Slowly he turned around, meeting Lex’s questioning eyes. The expression on the billionaire’s face made him want to frown, there was a distinct look of curiosity and Pete knew from past experience that once Lex managed to get interested about something then he rarely dropped it until he was satisfied he knew all that he wanted to know about it. Pete sighed and said, “It’s kind of important that Chloe managed to, you know, get laid pretty soon.”

Lex shifted from one foot to the other and said, “Somehow I know I’m going to regret asking this but, why?”

“Because she hasn’t before,” Pete replied and winced as the words came out.

Lex made a little coughing sound and started a little as realisation dawned on him of what the other man meant. “We are talking about the same Chloe aren’t we? Chloe Sullivan? She was a pretty little blonde about so high?”

Pete nodded his reply and felt amusement filter in at the amazed look that washed over Lex’s face.

”But she was always so… I mean, from what I remember she was rather… how can I put this? She always seemed so affectionate somehow…”

“I had the exact same reaction,” Clark piped up from his seat by the table.

Looking at the two men over by the breakfast table Lex ran a hand over his scalp and said, “You’re sure?” When they both nodded in unison Lex went on to say, “And you want me to, ah, change that?” They both nodded again and he sighed and turned away from them. Pete watched as he paced to the other side of the room and then stopped again. “Okay, tell me what you have in mind.”

[roslyn]

Originally posted by HumbugGirl@Jun 17 2003, 08:49 PM

"I mean what are we going to do? Walk into the mansion and go, ‘hey, guess what Lex? Chloe’s a still virgin and we want you to pop her cherry.’”


Lex made a little coughing sound and started a little as realisation dawned on him of what the other man meant. “We are talking about the same Chloe aren’t we? Chloe Sullivan? She was a pretty little blonde about so high?”


Oh my god...its a good thing i had just finished my drink before reading this...otherwise it would have been all over my monitor&#33;

This was a great chapter, i couldn&#39;t stop laughing, especially at those two particular quotes...

you have to update really really soon&#33;

:wub: Roslyn

[celticangel]

Great part. :worship2: :worship2:

[tigroon]

hilarious. More please ?

[sabby]

LOL&#33; That is gonna be a fun one&#33; I just can see Lex trying to seduce her adn Chloe goes all like what the fuck is wrong with you? *shakes head* Anyway, update soon, can&#39;t wait to see what&#39;s coming next

hugs,
Sabby

[Impress]

The conversation between Pete, Lex, and Clark was priceless. Great job. Can&#39;t wait to see what Lex is thinking about this whole thing.

[Elviriel]

this is so funny &#33; ;) i love that story &#33;

[andy jo]

great you update great chapoter and I hope you aupdate soon can&#39;t wait for lex to go after chloe :biggrin:

[trenchtown]

You evil, evil, evil girl. :devil:

Carmen, that was incredible. The conversation between Lex, Clark and Pete had me on the floor. :biggrin:

Now I wonder how Lex will finesse&#39;s his way into Chloe&#39;s life?

Nadia

[Charmingjen]

:badboy: ooo Lex ...he probably always thought of doing something.... :eyebrows:

[hfce]

Carmen, more more :worship2: :worship2:


Hope :chlexsign2:

[xmag]

ok, ok, give me a few minutes to collect myself * dies of laughter *

long sigh... i am back, ready to comment on this part, oh my god, Pete and the "popping her cherry", and Lex "you want me to change, euh, that ?"

My god, Clark has to tell Lex about the cosmic force, i mean, come on, Lex could be very well risking his life &#33; Candidate number one spent 2 months in a coma, for god&#39;s sake &#33;&#33;&#33;&#33; think about our poor Lexy &#33;&#33;

Well, for a beginner in the funny fic category, you do very well, update soon, please &#33;

[Carina]

Oh, this is all kinds of wonderful&#33; The conversation was hilarious and I can&#39;t wait to see how Lex plans on seducing Chloe. Great job&#33;
:blinkkiss:

[drina]

Pretty different from you other stories but i enjoy this as much as the others. :biggrin:

The one-sided banter between Lex and Clark is so funny. :lol:

[bluemoongirl23]

Hee. *clapping hands together eagerly* Can&#39;t WAIT for the next chapter and how the plan will be enacted.

Blue

[hurlingturtles]

yeah&#33; so far, so good. now we just need some horizontal action&#33; get someone else? hah&#33; as if Lex would let them do that.

[ShinyAdams]

Love this story. Can&#39;t wait for an update. I wonder what kind of crazy plan they will come up with to try and get Lex in Chloe&#39;s bed.

Chlex forever&#33;



:chlexsign4:

[Gemini]

:lol: This plot is way too good, I can only imagine whats going to happen.

[shipperchick]

HAHA&#33; This is so funny...
yes it is improbable, but still just such a delightful nugget of silly... well done, too... I can believe it at points. ;p I really really like it, humorous and unlikely situations and all&#33; Kudos on such an original and taking idea&#33; :pclol:

[Ellidyay]

Are we gonna get more soon? Not that its not worth the wait (haha, made a pun. go me.) but I&#39;m dying for more&#33;

Rachael (aka Ellidyay)

[xmag]

bump, bump, i hope you haven&#39;t forgotten this story, it&#39;s rare to find a funny fic. And this fic has so much potential, so please, update soon.

[vardaquareien]

This fic is so much fun&#33;&#33;&#33; There are so many possibilities for this scenario. I can&#39;t wait to see where you go with it&#33;&#33;&#33; :yay3:

Please post more soon&#33;&#33;&#33; ( I bet that&#39;s one you&#39;ve never heard before&#33;) ;)

[Impress]

Waiting patiently for an update. And I don&#39;t care if Real Life is getting in the way. That&#39;s no excuse. :biggrin: Update soon.

[krahmogh]

This fic keeps me laughing all the way through. Please update again soon. How is Lex going to worm his way into Chloe&#39;s life?


:chlexsign4:

[lunaluthor]

I&#39;ve got a horrible day in the office and the next days it won&#39;t getting better so please humor me and update :yay:

[DawnieAngel]

Great story Carm&#33;&#33; I want more, like now&#33; But knowing you i&#39;ll have to wait till stupid wimbledon&#39;s over hee. Between you and my dad *sigh* hee, seriously though hon. loving this, intresting concept, can&#39;t wait to see how it all transpires&#33;

[celticangel]

Please, please update. :chlexsign3: :blinkkiss:

[xmag]

writer&#39;s block ?

[HumbugGirl]

Originally posted by xmag@Jul 13 2003, 10:38 AM
writer&#39;s block ?
Biggest. Case. Ever

I think I might be getting there though... hopefully

[HumbugGirl]

No you&#39;re not seeing things. I am posting this only a couple of hours after saying I had a block... Oh well, the mysteries of the mind cannot be explained. lol

Thanks for the feedback once again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

3.

“If I’m going to do this,” Lex said from his relaxed position on the couch. “Then there are going to be a number of conditions.”

“Okay,” Clark replied, large dark eyes wide with wonder that they were actually having this conversation. Lex felt more than a little that way him self but he found he was able to control his reaction somewhat more fully, as was Pete although he was somewhat fidgety, unable to sit still for longer than a few minutes at a time and wishing desperately that he was elsewhere.

They had moved into the den after Lex had decided that there was no way on earth that he was possibly be able to eat anymore breakfast after they had dropped their little revelation on him. After initially sitting down the three men had found themselves caught in what could only be described as an uncomfortable silence until Clark had managed to get it together enough to explain to Lex what had happened to bring them to his door. Even then he had sat quietly for a few more minutes, refusing to say anything while he thought over the proposal.

It was, of course, ridiculous. For a start he was having entirely too much trouble accepting the fact that Chloe Sullivan, the girl he had always been aware of from a distance as something bright and vibrant and full of life, was still a virgin. When they had both lived in Smallville back before she had moved away to go to college there had always been some young man sniffing around her from what he could remember and there was certainly nothing about the blonde to put men off as far as he knew. In fact, she had been rather pretty and the fact that she had been often seen on Bruce Wayne’s arm over the years assured him that that was still the case. That thought in itself brought up another question to the forefront of his mind; hadn’t she been involved with Bruce? And if there was one thing Lex knew was a certainty it was that if Bruce Wayne was seeing a woman then it was invariably the case that they were sharing a bed too.

Absently he shook his head. It was all entirely too confusing and also more than a little intriguing. The biggest question though was if Chloe hadn’t been involved with Bruce on an intimate level, actually if she wasn’t still involved with him in such a way considering their continued public friendship, then what on earth was she doing for him? It irked at him. Wayne Enterprises was still one of the biggest names in competition with LexCorp even after all the years since they had both been formed and on more than one occasion Lex had found himself out bided on important contracts because Bruce had somehow managed to figure out a way to do things cheaper. If Chloe had somehow had something to do with it… well, maybe he was just making excuse to agree with what his friends had proposed because the idea of seeing the fiery blonde he remembered but maybe, just maybe then it would be of an advantage to him in finding out why Wayne Enterprises were always so successful.

“First of all,” he said. “Chloe can’t find out about this arrangement, I will not be responsible for hurting her feelings that way and coming off seeming like the bad guy in all of this.”

“That’s reasonable,” Pete agreed and Lex found he was unsurprised by the relieved expression on the younger man’s features. “I don’t think either of us really wanted that to happen anyway.”

“Secondly,” Lex went on. “I decide how I’m going to do this okay? I have no doubts that the three of you will all be watching on with avid attention but leave the fine details up to me. And try not to be too obvious about keeping track or she’ll catch on.”

“Agreed,” Clark said quickly as a large grin spread over his features. “There will be absolutely no interference from any of us.” Pete frowned a little at the idea but nodded anyway when Lex turned to him for confirmation.

“And thirdly, I want a little something from you in return.”

“What?” Pete asked quickly before his friend had chance to agree. Lex looked at him and smiled, well used to the other man’s occasionally suspicious nature by now.

“Just that you’ll both owe me a favour, I promise that when I call it in I won’t ask for anything too painful from you.”

“Promise?” Pete asked.

“Promise,” he confirmed.

“So you agree?” Clark asked doing nothing to keep the excitement out of his voice.

“I agree.”

“Fantastic&#33;” the reporter exclaimed and turned to Pete. “We should ring Lana right away and tell her.”

Lex watched as Pete reluctantly reached for the cell phone that was perpetually peeping out of his shirt pocket and dialled in the number. The man seemed to be having problems deciding whether he was truly happy or not with their agreement and after glancing across at Clark’s still smiling face, devoid nearly of any sensible feeling, Lex found himself wondering what the hell he had managed to get himself into.

* * * *

When Lana reappeared from the kitchen there was a grin on her face as big as Chloe had ever seen before. It instantly made the blonde woman wary but the moment that Lana saw Chloe’s expression turn from curiosity over who had rung to suspicion the café owner managed to wipe her smile from her face and say, “It was just Pete, he met up with an old friend in town and he wanted to know whether we’d be up to going to dinner with him tonight.”

Chloe raised an eyebrow. “We?”

“Yeah, he invited you along as well.” Lana’s face fell for a moment as she asked, “You’re not doing anything are you? I already said yes for us…”

Looking at the hopeful expression that had appeared on the other woman’s face Chloe found she couldn’t say no. It wasn’t like she had anything planned, it would just have been another night with her dad in front of the television and he had been nagging her that she should get out and see some of her friends while she was in town and had the chance to catch up with them. Chloe was certain that if she rang him and cancelled their proposed DVD-a-thon then there was no way that Gabe would object but… “Sure,” she said. “As long as it’s nowhere fancy of course, I didn’t exactly bring any glad rags with me.”

Lana walked around the back of the couch, moving to perch on the coffee table just to one side of where Chloe was sitting on the soft cushioned couch. There was a slight frown on her face as she looked down at her hands momentarily and then up at the blonde woman. “Well that just won’t do,” she said. “Pete was talking about this fancy restaurant.”

“Oh,” Chloe replied, hating the downcast look that had covered her friend’s features. “Sorry.”

“It’s no problem, I mean, we *might* be able to find something of mine to fit you but…”

“But I’ll look like I’m trying to fit into my little sister’s clothing, a fashionable little sister but my little sister all the same,” Chloe finished for her with a smile. “Lana, don’t worry about it. Really, it doesn’t matter; I’ll just sit this one out. You go and make sure you have enough fun for both of us.”

“Oh no, you’re not getting out of it that easily,” the other woman said, her face suddenly lighting with a smile that daunted Chloe somewhat. Clearly something had occurred to Lana and there was something in Chloe that told her she probably wouldn’t like what that something was. “We’re going to go shopping&#33;” Lana announced. The brunette glanced at her watch and said, “We’ve got time enough to make it to Metropolis and back before dinner. Come on, it’ll be fun&#33;”

Chuckling a little over her friend’s enthusiasm Chloe said, “Okay, nothing like last time. You do remember the last time we went shopping don’t you Lana?”

The brunette managed to look sheepish as she shot to her feet suddenly. “That wasn’t my fault.”

“Of course not,” Chloe replied teasingly as she climbed to her feet as well, tugging at her clothes to straighten out any wrinkles that had been threatening.

“It wasn’t&#33;”

“Lana, you’re the one who insisted on going in there.”

“I didn’t know what it was,” the woman grumbled.

With a smirk Chloe asked, “All the leather and plastic in the window didn’t clue you in?”

In characteristic fashion Lana blushed, grabbing a blue cushion from the couch and tossing it at her friend who caught it with a grin and put it back down. “Come on let’s just go,” Lana said. “I want to do some shopping&#33;”

Two hours later Chloe emerged from the changing room of one of the boutiques that Lana had dragged her into to the sound of Lana’s gasp and the sight of a brilliant smile on her friend’s face. Chloe herself had resisted the urge to look in the dressing room’s small mirror as instructed by the other woman who had insisted that it would be better to wait until she could see herself in a larger mirror and underneath better lighting. Now as she stepped outside let Lana take a hold of her shoulders and turn her around so that she could see the large mirror that was stuck to the wall behind her. In it Chloe saw her own eyes go wide as she took in the way in which the deep purple skirt which reached down to just below her knees and its simple matching top with shoes-string straps clung to her, highlighting the length of her legs and curve of her hips. She turned a little to one side and felt a small sense of glee as she realise how tiny her waist looked and then was unable to suppress a smile of her own as she noted the way the dark material outlined her breasts giving them a fine shape.

“It’s perfect don’t you think?” Lana as softly as she stood in her own chosen out-fit – a sleek pair of black trousers with a matching shirt.

From the corner of her eye Chloe noticed the two other women in the changing room who had come in after them glance towards her. One nudged the other in the ribs and they both smiled then brought another smile to Chloe’s own lips as she thought she detected a whispered compliment in her favour.

Meeting Lana’s eyes through the glass she said, “Yes, I think it is.” An unreadable expression passed over the other woman’s features and she stepped forwards, putting her arms around Chloe’s waist and hugging her tightly from behind. “Hey&#33;” Chloe exclaimed. “What’s with the hugging?”

Lana quickly stepped away, the soppy grin that had been on her face dropping away easily as she did so and remaining hidden. “Nothing, I just think you look great.”

Chloe smiled at her indulgently stepping back towards the changing room with a degree of reluctance as she discovered that she didn’t want to take her new outfit off. Tugging the curtain across she called out, “I don’t know what’s gotten into you today.”

“What?” Lana protested and Chloe heard the metallic rasp which told her that the woman had stepped into her changing cubicle as well. “I’m just happy. Can’t a girl me happy?”

Un-zipping the skirt she tugged it down over her hips and reached for the hanger it had been on as she said, “Lana, there is happy and there is how you’ve been acting today. I’m not used to it.”

There was a chuckle of laughter from the adjacent changing room. “The way you’re talking I’d think there was never anyone happy in New York.”

“Have you been to New York recently? We have a giant spider-man running around and numerous evil freaks. When I moved away from Gotham I thought I was going to get away from all of that.” Taking hold of the bottom of her top she pulled it over her head and reached for her own shirt to replace it.

Lana gave a snort. “Please, I know you had a crush the size of Metropolis on Batman.”

“Did not&#33;” Chloe protested a little too quickly.

“Oh, I forgot, you have a certain billionaire to keep you company while you were there.”

“Are you done with the teasing now?” Chloe asked as she heard Lana laugh again. She stepped out of the cubicle, shrugging her bag more securely onto her shoulder and holding up the outfit before her to look at it again even as the curtain behind which Lana was rustled slightly as the other woman brushed against it.

Seconds later Lana’s face appeared. “And what would you do if I wasn’t?”

Chloe let a small sly smile onto her lips, “Oh I’d think of something to make you regret it.” They both stared at each other for a few seconds and then Lana’s face screwed up a little moment’s before she burst out laughing and Chloe followed suit.

Taking hold of her arm Lana said, “Come on lets go and pay and then I’ll make it up to you by buying you a coffee. God knows I don’t want to face the wrath of Chloe.”

[jem]

YAY&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33; writers block is gone~&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;

:yay: total jumping bean right now...

and... heeeheee.... gorgeous purple dress???

OOoooh lanas DEF gonna feel the wrath of chloe when chloe finds out who the dates with.......

HEEHEEEHEEE awesome~&#33;&#33;

[bluemoongirl23]

Well, this was definitly worth the wait. Get it&#33;&#33;&#33; Ok, sorry, feel free to beat with a stick for that one. Love the outfit, and I&#39;m sure someone else will certainly appreciate it. *winks*

Blue

[scifichick774]

An update&#33; An update&#33;

*dances with glee*

This was great. And why do I suspect that Bruce would be just as willing to fulfill Clark and Pete&#39;s request as Lex would?

[sabby]

Hey, been waiting AGES for an update&#33; Finally&#33; Ok now please don&#39;t make me wait too long for the next chap, k? I love it. Tho the idea how Chloe can be a virgin at age 28 is still beyond me. Anyhow, more please

hugs.
Sabby

[DawnieAngel]

the outfit sounds gorgeous&#33; but like she has to worry about her waist looking tiny&#33; lol

Glad Lex agreed, but lnot sure about the whole keepin it from chloe thing i mean it&#39;s good cause while he&#39;s playing seducer she won&#39;t feel like he&#39;s puttin it on, but she&#39;ll find out enventually and then it&#39;ll be all angsty&#33;&#33;

Well hope the writers block unblock keeps up&#33; Write more soon

Dawnie

[celticangel]

You updated. :clap: Can&#39;t wait until Chloe and Lex meet. :worship2: :chlexsign1:

[buffiy18]

Thanks for the update. :biggrin: I&#39;m really starting to get into this fic. I don&#39;t know how Lex&#39;s 3 conditions will ever be met... but I&#39;m looking forward to seeing how thing turn up. Chole not finding out will be the hardest... she should find out unless you write her OOC :huh: , which you have the "write" to do... but I have a feeling that won&#39;t happen. Loved that Chlo&#39;s outfit is the fav color of one bald hottie :wub: &#33; Looking forward to the next chapter.

[vardaquareien]

:yay3: You updated&#33; You updated&#33; :yay3:

Oohh I can&#39;t wait for the dinner&#33; I luv this fic&#33;

[kidkarmina]

This is definitely a fun fic :blinkkiss: &#33; I could not stop laughing. I was impressed how you managed to mix some of the infamous/famous heroes (i.e. Spiderman, Batman, etc.).

I can&#39;t wait for the next update. Really :cool: fic&#33;&#33;&#33; Keep it coming, please :worship2: :worship2: :worship2: &#33;

[lunaluthor]

so glad that you updated and I love the described outfit, so I can&#39;t wait for the first encounter - no pun intended :biggrin:

[celticangel]

I still can&#39;t wait for the Chloe and Lex meeting. :chlexsign2: So take pity and update soon please&#33;&#33; :)

[lunaluthor]

Hey are you still out there I&#39;m waiting for at least two weeks and I&#39;m craving for a new chapter so please do me this small favour :yay:

[dsapiro]

This is not a demand, but mearly a plea from your friend, please update. Please, please please.

[fighterangel]

Can we have more soon or did your writer&#39;s block come back in full swing? Please give us more, cause dinner should be interesting, Pete&#39;s "old friend" will be a surprise for the purple outfitted Chloe.

Please update&#33;&#33;&#33;

LA

[buffiy18]

Question: Did you mean the title in more than one way... ? We keep waiting for an update and some good : chlexsign1: ...

I think this fic is going to be great once it starts rolling.

[HumbugGirl]

For everyone who is wondering, this fic is still fairly well back on my rotation. I&#39;m writing 28 fics at the moment and they all need working on, quite a few of them before I get around to this one again.

HumbugGirl

[mina murray]

28??&#33;&#33; Well, that&#39;s... a lot&#33;
We&#39;ll wait then, take it easy.

[Charmingjen]

;) Love the latest chapter&#33; It&#39;s good to see Chloe taking pride in herself.

:love: Jen

[shailafter]

as much as i love hearing about chloe and bruce.. i can&#39;t wait until :chlexsign1: gets together&#33; great story so far&#33; can&#39;t wait to read more.. so update as soon as you can..

[lunaluthor]

darling dear please one little short chapter I&#39;m dying here
*whiny tone added* :crygreen: :crygreen:

[scorpio]

This is absolutely worth the wait..for an update. :biggrin:
Update soon,though. :worship2:

[flower]

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE&#33;&#33;&#33;

owh, come on&#33; You want to, don´t you see, you realy realy want to&#33;

please&#33;

FloweR

[tigroon]

<de-lurking>

Okay the plot is improbable... must not be easy to find inspiration on this... but I like it a lot so far... so please let your imagination run free... and update soon ?

<re-lurking>

[HumbugGirl]

Okay, I thought I should put in an author&#39;s note here simply because I&#39;ve been a complete pain and the arse and not posted anything on this forever now. You all have permission to smack me one if I ever do it again. Thank you for all the encouragement and feedback that I&#39;ve recieved for this so far - my Chlex muse has been somewhat on/off lately and unfortunately it is this fic that has suffered as a result.

Hope you enjoy&#33;
HumbugGirl

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

4.

By the time that Lana had decided that Chloe has indeed picked out the perfect shoes to go with her perfect outfit they were already running late and the blonde reporter found herself treated to the unenviable pleasure of enduring Lana when the speed demon in her took over and insisted on driving Lana’s little car along at a horribly frightening speed. Her nails dug in so hard into the soft leather of the seat as she forced herself to keep her hands at her sides that Chloe honestly began to wonder whether she would have to be surgically removed when they finally reached Smallville. Lana however didn’t seem to notice, and when she eventually screeched to a halt in front of her house she quickly put the handbrake on and turned around to smile at Chloe, a Chloe who was trying to force her eyes open and pretending that she probably wasn’t as green as she undoubtedly felt like she probably looked.

“You okay Chloe?” the brunette asked, face sunny and entirely unsuspecting.

“Hmm, yup.” The blonde reached for the belt buckle and unclasped it before stumbling out of the car and thanking whatever force was out there that she didn’t fall flat on her face and that she was safely back on still, safe ground again. She slammed the door and leaned against it for a few seconds, hearing in the background that Lana was also climbing out.

“Good, because I think we’re going to have to hurry. Pete will kill me if we’re late.”

Turning around to watch as Lana bounded up the steps to her front door, all the shopping bags in tow, Chloe suddenly remembered what it was she *really* hated about the other woman – her damn boundless energy. Dragging herself up the steps Chloe emerged into the Ross house to find Lana already hurriedly moving her on to go and get ready. “I don’t see why I have to get ready here anyway,” Chloe complained. “I mean, my Dad only lives around the corner and all my makeup and stuff is there.”

Lana smiled at her indulgently. “Come on, it’ll be more fun this way – sort of like old times when we used to get ready to go out together back when we were roomies.”

Looking at Lana’s smiling face and her apparent sincerity Chloe bit back her immediate instinctual barb to remind the other woman of all the arguing that had generally taken place whenever they had found themselves forced to get ready at the same time back in the good ol’ days. Sometimes Lana’s sunny memory was a blessing and sometimes it was something of an irritation.

“Besides,” the woman went on to say as she reached into her shopping bag and pulled out her top in order to admire it. “You can borrow anything of mine you need extra.”

Chloe quickly turned her head in the brunette’s direction, half hoping that she would see a sly smile that would tell her that the comment had been a joke or at least only half serious but Lana was concentrating on taking the tags from her newly purchased clothes and, perhaps thankfully as a result did not notice Chloe’s reaction. “You know you’re much too enthusiastic about this – who is this old friend of Pete’s anyway?”

Lana looked up suddenly with wide eyes. “I don’t know him,” she said quickly.

“I might,” Chloe answered. “What’s his name?”

For a second the blonde though she saw a vein of worry wash into Lana’s face. “I – I mean Pete didn’t tell me who it was.”

After staring at the other woman for a moment Chloe shrugged her shoulders noting Lana’s quickly relieved expression. “Is it okay if I use your shower then seeing as I’m effectively trapped here anyway?”

“Sure,” Lana said brightly, clearly relieved at the change of subject. “You go up and get started and I’ll find you some towels.”

Chloe disappeared up the staircase, heading towards the bathroom but only after dropping off her shopping bags onto the sunshine yellow quilt on the bed in the guest bedroom. Behind the bathroom door she found a robe and stripped out of her clothes. Moments later Lana appeared along with a stack of fluffy white towels which she placed on the lid of the toilet.

“Need anything else?” she asked turning to face the blonde who was leaning over the bath tub and fiddling with the taps to try and get a comfortable temperature.

“No, I’m okay.”

“Are you sure?” Lana asked.

Glancing around at the brunette who was hovering near by Chloe said, “You’re really starting to concern me here.”

“I just want to make sure that everything is perfect-“ She stopped abruptly. “I mean,” the woman corrected. “I want everything to go perfectly so we have a good time.”

A though occurred to Chloe and she groaned. “You are not trying to set me up with someone.”

“No&#33; Why would I do that?”

Chloe arched a single questioning eyebrow.

“I’m not&#33;” Lana protested. “You were here when Pete called about it anyway so you should know that.”

“Lana…” Chloe began after sighing.

“Promise,” Lana said.

“Okay then. Just… Just remember I really don’t need any help finding a man.”

“Okay,” Lana replied with a decisive nod of her head.

She left the room then though Chloe’s doubts were in no way eased. Lana couldn’t lie to save her own ass and the blonde had easily recognised the telltale flicker that told her Lana was being less than honest.

He’ll probably be middle aged and balding Chloe thought with an errant little shudder. He’ll be a business partner of either Lana’s or Pete’s and he’ll spend the entire evening leering at me because Lana made me buy an entirely too sexy little outfit. Viciously squeezing the life out of a bottle of lime scented body wash Chloe let her brow crease into a small frown as she attempted to list all of the ways in which to have her revenge on the petite little brunette meddler who had no doubt arranged to get her into a situation which could only turn out to be a mess.

The frown was still firmly in place when she emerged from under the shower minutes later. Chloe dried off then disappeared into the guest bedroom to get dressed. The potentially traitorous cute little outfit on Chloe went to Lana and Pete’s room searching for her friend and her offer of makeup only to find that a whirlwind seemed to have ripped through the place. Spying Lana’s dress bag on one side the blonde quickly decided that the other woman must already have gone back downstairs before performing a raid for suitable makeup.

After peering at herself in the mirror for a good few minutes Chloe deemed her work a success and headed downstairs only to find Pete had Lana waiting for her. “All set?” the young man asked as he heard the blonde woman approaching, the clunk of her heals on the wooden steps giving her away. As she stepped into view however he turned his head and instinctively said, “Wow Chlo’ you look hot&#33;”

Lana smacked him on the arm before saying, “You look great Chloe.”

“Thanks guys,” the new arrival replied then looked around and asked. “Is Clark meeting us there?”

The husband and wife exchanged glances before Pete answered, “Clark isn’t coming; its just going to be the four or us.”

With a wry little smile Chloe said, “I thought that might be the case. Speaking of that though, just who-“

“Boy&#33; Look at the time&#33;” Lana suddenly exclaimed pushing herself into a standing position and moving away from the table. As she did so she took hold of Pete’s arm and dragged him after her. “We’d better get going.”

Chloe watched with suspicious eyes as Lana hurried her husband through the door. Quickly she followed and deciding that Pete would probably he the weaker, more vulnerable target she stalked off behind him towards the car while Lana locked up the house. Her friend pressed the unlock button on his keys and flung open the door quickly. Moving decisively Chloe grabbed it before he could slam it shut and looking into startled eyes asked, “Pete, who are we having dinner with tonight?”

He hesitated for a brief second and Chloe could practically see the words about to tumble from his lips under the intensity of her gaze. Before he could answer however, a small and get surprisingly powerful hand gripped her wrist and tugged her around to the other side of the car. Chloe looked at Lana in amazement as the smaller woman opened one of the doors to the back seat and pushed her towards it. Now she *knew* something was going on. Her only consolation was that once they were all inside the car then there would be no escape; she would have a captive audience to her questions.

Lana however apparently had other ideas because the moment they were all inside and Pete had pulled away from the house the brunette jabbed a finger at the radio and filled the car with loud music. Chloe noticed that even Pete winced at the volume. Her own protests were ignored and Chloe settled back in her seat, her mind quickly plotting once again.

If they didn’t want her to know who they were setting her up with well that was just fine; she’d just find another way to make her scheming friends regret their decision to play matchmaker.

The restaurant that she was taken to was a secluded Italian affair that seemed purposely designed for couples. Low lighting filled the room, casting a golden glow over all the people present as they gazed at each over across the tables with their little white table cloths and napkins. Chloe felt distinctly out of place as they were hurried through the restaurant and to an out of the way table towards the back, especially so when she heard what she thought might be violin music being piped into the room from hidden speakers. The sound made her give a little groan and she stared accusingly at Lana’s back as she walked in front of her.

As they sat down at the table Chloe took a place across from the happily grinning couple and made sure that her frown was in place. As she looked at the table before her though she felt a smile slowly filter over her features as an idea occurred to her. It fit in with her plan perfectly but she held it in check until after they had ordered drinks deciding instead to give the pair one last chance to own up to what they were doing. Having ordered herself a vodka and coke for courage Chloe leaned back in her seat and turned the full attention of her gaze on the husband and wife duo. It was Lana who cracked first surprising. The brunette flinched a little and after elbowing Pete very discretely she leaned forwards and said, “Everything okay Chloe? You’re being kind of quiet.”

“Sure I am,” Chloe said and then took a sip of her drink. “Just wondering about stuff.”

“Like what?” Lana asked, bright eyes suddenly not so concerned anymore and shinning with curiosity.

“Like who this guy is you’re setting me up with.”

“I’m not&#33;” Lana exclaimed but at the same time Pete had interrupted her.

“He’s here,” her husband said climbing to his feet.

Leaning forwards Chloe took a quick swig of her drink and then grabbed a breadstick from the table. She broke it in too and shoved the two halves up her nostrils before taking another and biting down on it. She briefly noticed Lana’s horrified face, a secret thrill going through her at the sight and then the blonde woman turned around to greet the poor man she had been set up with, a goofy grin on her face as she did so.

[beautiful N' Bruised]

Aww, Chloe hun, the joke&#39;s gonna be on you when you see just who they&#39;ve set you up with.

Great update, and more soon when you finish with your other *27* fics. Dear god, and I thought working on four was ambitious of me.

Though I do have a soft spot for the pairing; stupid Chlionel for taking you away from your Chlex fics :mad:

[vardaquareien]

:pclol: Ohhh I can&#39;t wait to see her face when she sees who he is&#33;&#33;&#33; That was a classic chapter - I&#39;m so glad you updated&#33;&#33;&#33;

[kirt30]

:wub: oh this is good what happens next

[tigerbaby]

Tallk about embarrassment &#33;&#33;&#33; :blush:

Hee hee, I can just picture it in my head.

[asharnanae]

:biggrin: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33; oh my god that was so funny&#33; I so wish I could see there faces when they all sit down&#33;&#33;&#33; FANTASTIC&#33;&#33;&#33;

[buffiy18]

Thanks for the update. :applause: I really enjoy reading this story. Great chapter too… looks like we are about to start seeing some Chlex &#33; :chlexsign3:

[QUOTEAww, Chloe hun, the joke&#39;s gonna be on you when you see just who they&#39;ve set you up with.[/QUOTE]
I am sooooo embarrassed for Chole… Lana/Pete should of at least given her a good clue. Although Chloe was right about it being an older bald man.

Looking forward to your next update.

[nessa]

Hahahaha...That was great chapter, can&#39;t wait to see Chloe&#39;s reaction and Lex&#39;s of course. I also liked part with Lana the speed demon. I&#39;m so happy that you&#39;ve updated but could you update next chapter soon because this is one of my favourites fics at the moment and can&#39;t wait to read what happens next. Good work&#33;&#33;&#33; :biggrin:

[Zealot]

Aaaahhh finally an update &#33;


He’ll probably be middle aged and balding Chloe thought with an errant little shudder. He’ll be a business partner of either Lana’s or Pete’s

Geez was she thinking about Lex :lol:

And loved how Lana avoided to answer Chloe&#39;s questions, I always thought Lana should be more like that on the show. Alive.

I can&#39;t wait to see lex&#39;s reaction when he&#39;ll see Chloe like this...

[Tandy]

:lol:

Wow, great chapter and the ending was just hilarious&#33; :lol: Continue soon please&#33; :lol:

Tandy

[shailafter]

yay an update&#33; but still no chlex yet&#33; :lol: bahahah i can&#39;t wait for the next chapter though&#33;&#33;&#33;

[Sab_Luthor]

who is this mysterious man?
i can&#39;t wait to find it
please update soon

[drina]

This fic is definitely worth the wait. LOL. anyway, I this chapter is just too funny for words, especially the last part...i can just picture chloe vividly in my mind, with the breadsticks in her nostrils... :pclol: :pclol:

[celticangel]

You updated&#33;&#33; :yay: :yay: Loved this part can&#39;t wait to see how dinner goes. Update soon. :worship2:

[HumbugGirl]

Thanks for the feedback everyone, I&#39;m glad you enjoyed.

~~~~~~~~~

5.

Half way to the restaurant Lex had very nearly turned his car around and headed back to the mansion. He found himself wondering whether he shouldn’t call Clark and explain that the idea was suddenly seeming ridiculous to him but decided against it when he remembered his earlier arguments. Besides, he vaguely remembered Chloe from her multitudes of interviews she had tried to persuade him into sitting through when she was younger and while they weren’t any of his fonder memories he certainly couldn’t think of anything particularly negative about them. With an unconscious little smile he wondered whether she would still be able to equal him on the verbal judo front.

Stepping through the glass doors of the small restaurant that Pete had insisted on for this meal Lex found himself confronted with the usual startled silence that settled over a room when he stepped inside. For a second it was uncomfortable as Lex let it show a little too clearly that he was aware of their reaction and then he flowed forwards and over to a surprised looking head waiter. As Lex approached him the man’s thick dark moustache twitched slightly, an anxious look entering into his eyes as he licked his lips briefly and then stuttered a ‘hello Mr Luthor’. It seemed to take him a good few minutes to comprehend that Lex wasn’t just walking in off the street but that he was actually due to be eating with someone. The delay caused other members of staff to start to appear and by the time that Lex finally managed to get it across to the other man that he was meant to be eating with the Ross party there were three other waiters and waitresses stood a little way off staring at them curiously.

After that the short walk through the restaurant seemed to take an inordinately long amount of time. Lex found he was grateful when he saw the smiling face of Pete come into view as the other man climbed to his feet and after taking in that sight he quickly turned to look at Lana who was also sat facing him. In the space of milliseconds Lex saw her features turn from a slightly contented expression to a purely horrified one. He followed her gaze; unable to stop himself from becoming curious as to why her reaction to his approach was so adverse and stopped short as a neatly styled blonde head turned towards him.

Lex blinked, eye’s instantly disbelieving and he very nearly looked around to make sure he was looking at the right woman. Still, there was no one else around who could possibly be the blonde that he remembered and who he had glimpsed occasionally over the years since she left Smallville. The woman who was just now turning her head towards certainly had the same type of glow that Chloe always seemed to have possessed. His eyebrows shot up even as her mouth dropped open and Lex found he couldn’t stop himself from letting a small smirk filter onto his features. The blonde head whipped around to once again face in the opposite direction and he saw her bring her hands up rapidly, pulling at the breadsticks that had been adorning her face. The blush he had half noticed beginning on her cheeks spread around, appearing even on the back of her neck as she appeared to desperately try and find a way to dispose of the breadsticks.

Apparently not noticing what had happened Pete stepped around the table and shook his hand, saying as he did so, “You remember Lex, right Chloe?”

There was a barely noticeable paused during which Lex kept his eyes still steady on the blonde woman’s back. Her shoulders suddenly rolled back, as if she had gathered herself somehow and then she turned towards him with a small, somewhat self-conscious smile plastered across her lips in a very purposeful manner. “Sure I do,” Chloe answered and the faux brightness of her smile was echoed in her voice.

Lex let a smirk filter onto his lips. “Miss Sullivan.”

“Mr Luthor,” she responded, eying him carefully and taking in his amused expression bravely.

“You guys aren’t still going to do that are you?” Pete asked. “Hell Chloe, even I came around to calling him Lex; I’m sure you could manage it.”

For a second Chloe looked distinctly uncomfortable with the prospect and Lex felt an odd vein of doubt filter into his system. When he had agreed to this plan with Pete and Clark there had been no doubt in his mind that it would not be easy but there was something about the way in which Chloe was reacting to his presence that told him it might be even more difficult than he had anticipated. Shaking off any doubts Lex turned to the blonde and said, “I did ask you to call me Lex once. I seem to remember you accepting.”

“Then I think I’ll be able to manage it now,” Chloe said and tried to return his smile. She quickly shifted to look back at the table even as Lex raised an eyebrow at Pete and slid into the seat next to the blonde woman. Lana met his gaze briefly and smiled broadly at him, wide enough that Lex found he wanted to sigh. If there was ever one person he wouldn’t trust to keep a secret by accidentally giving it away it would be Lana. It was no wonder that Chloe had been behaving strangely as he approached the table; the blonde reporter had probably caught onto the idea that her friends were planning something and decided to retaliate. The thought brought a grin to his face, one which Chloe clearly saw out of the corner of her eye as she looked at him strangely for a moment before very purposely turning away from looking at him.

“So Lex,” Lana said. “It’s good to see you again. It feels like it has been forever.”

“It has been a while,” Lex admitted, nodding to the waiter that they were ready to order. The moment that he saw it was Lex who was indicating to him then he hurried over, notepad on hand to stand by the table. They quickly gave their orders and then the man disappeared again, leaving then four people, two couples Lex corrected mentally, sat in complete and utter, possibly the most uncomfortable, silence that had ever happened. Lex shifted abruptly the action making his neck pop loudly in protest much to his relief but causing a loud ‘ew&#33;’ to come from the woman sitting next to him.

Once again Lex turned his eyes on Chloe. “That was just gross,” she said loudly and caused him to raise his eyebrows. Still saying ‘ew’ and ‘gross’; how old was she now? “Don’t look at me like that. You try having to listen to something like that.”

“I *did* listen to it.”

“Yeah but you’re probably less squeamish than I am… and no, I didn’t just admit that.”

Lex chuckled, “As competitive as ever I see.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means that we both know that neither one of us would ever back down on the issue so we should probably just drop it.”

Chloe raised an eyebrow at him. “Fine. But I’m right.”

“Do you even know what you’re right about?” he asked then winced as he watched fire flood through her eyes. “Wait&#33; I didn’t mean that exactly, just that the argument is pointless…”

“I said fine,” Chloe reiterated. “But I’m still right, it doesn’t matter about what. I’m just right.”

An exasperated laugh escaped him. “Stubborn.”

“Determined,” Chloe countered immediately.

“Obstinate.”

“Passionate.”

“Oh I bet,” Lex answered with a smirk that sent a blush rushing to Chloe’s cheeks, clearly to her annoyance as she narrowed her eyes at him in irritation.

She shook her head, seeming to recover quickly and said, “You have no shame.”

“I choose to call it confidence.”

“Arrogance,” Chloe mumbled under her breath, covering the words by taking a sip of her drink.

* * * *

Lana gripped the edge of the table and pushed herself into a stand position, taking a moment to set her napkin down on the white table cloth. As Lex and Pete went to rise as well she waved them back down into a sitting position, “Don’t, I’m just going to nip to the bathroom.” The two men gratefully sank back down into a sitting position, returning to their meal and resuming the surprisingly easy conversation which had been flowing between them. To Lana’s surprise Chloe also climbed to her feet, indicating that she would follow her friend in the direction of the restaurant bathroom and the two women wormed there way through the tables towards the small room at the back of the restaurant. When they pushed open the door to the room Lana ambled inside, glancing once towards the mirror and seeing the reflection of Chloe walking over towards it instead of towards one of the stalls; she turned around and headed into one for herself.

“You’ve had a very lucky escape missy,” Chloe called out even as the stall door closed.

“What do you mean?” Lana asked, a shiver of tension winding its way up her back from the base of her spine as she heard Chloe’s words.

“I thought you were planning something, you and Pete actually.”

“W-What do you mean?” Lana laughed nervously.

A chuckle of laughter came from Chloe, “I thought you were trying to set me up with someone. You know, after what I told you the other day and everything? Pretty silly eh?”

Lana let out a burst of laughter that was somewhere between relieved and anxious and actually ended up sounding something like a tittering noise, hardly wanting to think at how close Chloe had come to the truth. She paused as she put her hand on the door handle of the stall door, emerging into the room beyond with what she hoped was an amused smile for her friend. Chloe was leaned back against the counter were the basins were, watching Lana as she appeared with a similar smile.

“Oh yeah,” Lana answered, placing her bag on the counter and making sure she buried her eyes in it pretending to look for something.

“Because you know, it’s *Lex*.”

She stopped abruptly, a shiver of panic entering her and looked at Chloe. “What do you mean?”

The blonde woman shrugged. “Just that there is no way in hell that Lex Luthor of all people would get involved with being set up with someone.”

“Oh I don’t know…” Lana began and then stopped as she suddenly remembered that she didn’t *want* Chloe to think that she was being set up.

“I mean, the guy is known for being an ice cold ass of a man so he’d never do anything like that.”

Curiosity taking over Lana asked, “Yeah but don’t you think that he’s kind of cute? Or… something,” she asked when Chloe gave her a disbelieving look.

“Lex Luthor couldn’t be cute if you dressed him up in a bunny outfit and gave him a basket of Easter eggs – a *pink* bunny suit in fact&#33;”

Pulling a tube of lipstick suddenly out of her bag Lana said, “He isn’t that bad.”

Chloe chuckled out a burst of laughter, “Should I tell Pete he has something to worry about?”

“No&#33; It’s just that you’re being unfair. I’m sure that Lex is a really nice guy if you get to know him plus-“

“He’s hot, I know,” Chloe finished and Lana spun around, eyes wide in shock.

“You said he wasn’t cute&#33;” she exclaimed.

“Yeah,” Chloe said with a nod of her head. “There’s cute and then there’s mouth-wateringly sexy, successful and charming; all of which Lex happens to be but that doesn’t mean that I’d be interested in him.”

Thinking quickly Lana said, “Chloe, you’ve almost got me interested and I’m a happily married woman.”

“Extramarital affairs can be fun,” the blonde responded with a cheeky grin.

“Pish&#33;” Lana responded then blushed as Chloe raised her eyebrows in amusement. “I mean, don’t say things like that. Come on Chloe, don’t dismiss him. He really looked like he was trying tonight.”

Chloe tensed. “Trying at what?”

“Nothing,” Lana said quickly. “Well, obviously not nothing but Chloe… just be nice.”

“Lana…” Chloe said slowly. “Please tell me you weren’t trying to set me up with Lex.”

Spinning a little so that she wasn’t facing Chloe so completely, Lana screwed her face up slightly and pretended to herself that she wasn’t lying. “Of course not.”

Dryly Chloe said, “Lana I can still see you in the mirror and you’ve got your ‘please don’t notice me doing this God’ look on your face.”

Drat, Lana thought. “I thought I was going to sneeze,” she said quickly.

Once again Chloe’s brow creased in disbelief. “If you say so Lana.”

[Impress]

ooo more. keep it coming. good btw.

[asharnanae]

:biggrin: heh heh heh&#33;&#33; that was funny&#33;&#33; I love how lex reacted, and the banter. fantastic update&#33;&#33;

[SexInStilettos]

OMG, you&#39;re great please don&#39;t stop&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33; :crygreen:

[tigerbaby]

I just loved the banter and I&#39;m not surprised that Lana is so easy to read.

[beautiful N' Bruised]

oO, two updates in one day, ain&#39;t we lucky?

Liked the sort of tense chemistry appearing btw Lex and Chloe. And her blush at &#39;passionate&#39; really reveals her virginality (if that&#39;s a word.)

And I adore your Lana with her bumbling small town girl silliness.

I&#39;ll be interested to see how you&#39;re gonna progress the Chlex.

[scifichick774]

*snicker*

Lex...bunny suit...very nice. ;)

And Lana was just so Lana in this chapter. Looking forward to more.

[S.Ann Smith]

just read this all the way through, and I love it&#33;&#33;&#33; I love how Lana actually tries to Lie...lol... hehe bunny suit hehe... Hurry back

[Blaire023]

BUS-TED&#33;

Brilliant two chapters, and hey, no one will even notice if you put the other 27 stories on hold while you add more to this one, will they? I thought not&#33;

~B

[buffiy18]

Another upadate&#33;&#33; With Chlex&#33;&#33; I really like this story. I&#39;m glad that everyone was able to quicly recover from the "bread stick" incident. Now that Chole knows it was a set up... how much of it will she find out? This story keeps getting better. :chlexsign2:

[Tandy]

:yay: Another update?&#33; I love you&#33; :wub: and I love this fic&#33; Great job, love the breadstick part&#33; hilarious, and the verbal judo was so good&#33; MOre&#33;

Tandy

[Brittany]

:biggrin: Wow&#33; Two new chapters and they were so great&#33; I&#39;d thought you&#39;d never update this fic, so glad you did&#33; Can&#39;t wait for the next update&#33;&#33;&#33; Please make it soon&#33; ;)

[Calliope]

Now, we need to ditch Pete and Lana. Chlex needs a little time alone. :biggrin:

[Sunflow]

Two updates, two updates, yay :yay:
Great chapters, but I&#39;m surprised that Lana managed not to spill out the truth in some &#39;Yes, Chloe&#33; I want you and Lex to hook up and have sex&#33;&#39;-panicky-shouty way ;)
She must be very stressed - with suspicious Chloe behind her back and the big secret plan.
Did I mention that I love your Lana?

Anyway, I hope you&#39;ll find the time to post next chapter soon.

Sunflow

[lunaluthor]

two updates I can&#39;t believe it and hilarious too, so it isn&#39;t to hard is it
Love your story :yay: :yay: :yay:

[peepsRfun2eat]

yyyyyyaaaaaaaayyyyy&#33; :yay2: :yay2:
ok well love the story and looking forward to more updates really really soon. please? :worship2:

[Lady Candy]

“Please tell me you weren’t trying to set me up with Lex.”
Oh God&#33; :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
I want read the end ;)

[HumbugGirl]

6.

Half way through desert Pete suddenly smiled as an idea came to mind. So far the evening had been everything that he had expected that it would be since Lex had announced that the perfect way for him and Chloe to get reacquainted would be for the four of them to go out all together and have a nice meal. There had been the initial awkward conversation, especially after Chloe’s little stunt that Pete still couldn’t quite believe, and then they had settled back into an easy banter that he was surprised to find that he had missed. It really had been a surprise. At first he had been dreading the prospect of constant high levels of snark between his two friends but it had turned out to be amusing; when one of them wasn’t looking the other would come up with a way to goad them into saying something and the results were normally more than a little hilarious for he and Lana who sat at the other side of the table with almost permanent – if occasionally nervous – grins on their face.

Putting down the fork he had been using to poke at a piece of cheesecake he looked across the table at the pair and said, “How about once we’ve finished we all head back to mine and I’ll see what I can do about some drinks?”

Lana looked around at him with an inquisitive expression on her face. “Drinks?”

“Yes honey.”

She raised a sceptical eyebrow, apparently not immediately grasping his reasoning and then nodded slowly. “I guess that’s a good idea.” Looking across at Chloe and Lex she said, “Well as long as you guys are on board that is.”

Pete watched as Chloe glanced briefly in Lex’s direction before nodding. The man himself had been watching Chloe and Pete found himself unsettled; was he the only one that spotted a somewhat predatory look in the billionaire’s eyes? Lex clearly noticed the look that Chloe had thrown in his direction, a small curl of his lips was the only single that he gave however. It was enough for Pete to notice however.

“That sounds like a good idea Pete,” Lex said quickly, not giving Chloe a chance to object which Pete had been half suspicious that she might. There was something in her eyes ever since she had come back from the bathroom with Lana earlier that had made Pete realise that his blonde friend had lost none of her instincts over the years. It wasn’t the most comforting thought.

“I’ll get the bill,” Pete said abruptly standing and moving away from Chloe’s eyes and the unconscious feeling as yet that Lex was also looking at him when he could not immediately catch the waiter’s attention. Walking up over towards the head waiter’s stand Pete absently became aware that Lex had followed him, the tall business man moving to stand beside him as they waited for the man to ring up the bill and say many an ‘I’m sorry Mr Luthor’ as he did so.

Leaning close to him Lex said, “Let’s try and get Chloe to drive over to your place in my car with me.”

“What’s the plan?” Pete asked.

Lex raised his eyebrows. “Didn’t we discuss something about you trusting me?”

“Can’t a guy just ask a question?” Pete responded trying to sound innocent.

“Not when the question is that one.”

“It’s just… I really doubt that Chloe is going to want to take a detour and park.”

Rolling his eyes Lex said, “You actually wanted me to do something like that?”

“Well… no.”

“Pete, we have an agreement and I ask least plan to stick to it but in a fashion that I deem correct.”

Pete stared at him for a moment and then shook his head; it wasn’t like he would want to be in a position like the one which Lex was in at the moment anyway. If nothing else then Chloe was going to prove a handful.

The three friends; Lana, Pete and Lex all waited somewhat impatiently for Chloe as she lingered over the remains of her desert and then spent another good ten minutes deciding whether she wanted to have a cup of coffee before they set off home to Pete and Lana’s place. By the end the three, Lex included, found they were all suffering from bouts of irrational anticipation and managed to half convince each other that Chloe was onto whatever plan they had been brewing. It was an edgy period of time until they were all stood outside of the restaurant having moved away from the golden lights. Pete shivered a little at the way in which the heat of the day had been ripped away. Looking over to Chloe, Pete watched as she tightly pulled her coat around her slender form and laughed at something Lana had said. His wife grinned and blushed before giving Chloe a small shove so she fell to one side. As she stumbled Lex put a hand out, resting it low on her back to steady her. For her part Chloe looked mildly embarrassed but Pete was willing to bet that the main of the redness in her cheeks was due to the wine she had consumed with dinner.

Reaching into the jacket pocket of his grey suit Pete pulled out his wallet, reaching inside and taking a couple of bills. “Chloe, can you do be a favour?” The blonde looked up a thim, reaching out to take the bills even before she realised what she was doing.

“Sure, what?”

“Go by the store with Lex and pick up a little something to drink?” Chloe looked at him blankly for a moment before looking away and muttering something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like a curse. Pete’s eyes widened and he was about to tell her not to bother when Lana bragged hold of his arm and pulled him towards their car.

The tiny brunette was giggling by the time they reached their car; Chloe apparently not being the only one who had indulged perhaps a little too much. She leaned against the side of the car as Pete searched for the key, still laughing and making him smile as she did so. Finding the keys he stepped forwards to unlock the car and found her arms going around his waist as she leaned onto his shoulder.

“Petey?” she said, grinning at him, her eyes glazed ever so slightly.

“What sweetie?”

“What if I said that I think Chloe is *so* going to figure out what we’ve done and that maybe this was a mistake and she’s going to kill us in some horrible way? Remember that meteorite mutant that slimed all over people then devoured them? Well I think it’s going to be grosser than that.”

Pete rolled his eyes at her. “I don’t suppose you could have mentioned it before.”

Lana shook her head, the exaggerated action sending her hair flying in all directions. Instead of answering she shrugged her shoulder. After a moment or two, once they had climbed into the car she said, “I really hope Lex is better at lying than we are or she’s going to eat him alive.”

“He’s had enough practice,” Pete replied glibly then winced as Lana smacked him on the arm, her tiny frame hiding the secret of her strength as usual. After all the years they’ve been together Pete can’t help but wonder *why* he never remembers that Lana’s is stronger than she looks but always ends up figuring that it probably had something to do with the lump of meteorite she had morbidly worn around her neck for years. The thought made him smile for a moment and he gave a silent salute to the rock that had long since lost it’s precious spot around his wife’s neck and that had kept Clark at bay for years – there was no doubt in Pete’s mind that if Lana hadn’t persisted in wearing the damn thing then Clark would have found a way in worm his way into her heart more quickly and that the effects of his doing so would probably have been more permanent.

“You know I don’t mean it,” he said quickly by way of compensation and earned himself a sceptical look for his trouble. “Okay maybe a little.”

“I don’t know whether it makes me happier that you admitted that or not,” Lana mumbled and rolled her head against the window. “Petey honey?”

“Hmm?”

“I just want Chlo’ to be happy.”

“I know sweetie.”

“Cos, you know, she has the worst luck when it comes to guys – even worse than me&#33;”

“Hey&#33;” Lana giggled at him but thankfully avoided giving him another friendly tap. Glancing over at his wife as she leaned against the car window and blew on the glass in order to make it steam up Pete said, “And you think Lex is a better choice?”

Raising a finger to the glass and tracing a heart on it she said, “I don’t know about *better* exactly… but then I don’t think Chloe would expect him to be better so that’s okay.”

“Do you want to explain the logic there or is it just a girl thing?”

Lana shrugged sobering somewhat and making Pete wonder whether she had ever been as drunk as she had seemed in the first place. “Chloe already knows that Lex can be a prick so she’s not expecting anything better from him like she might do with another guy.”

“And that works in his favour?” Pete asked in disbelief.

She gave another shrug and tried to write something on the glass. The clouded up section had rapidly decreased in size however and she quickly found herself running out of room. A disgruntled expression wavered over her face for a second before she gave a little sigh and turned away from the glass. “I guess,” was all she said. When Pete glanced at her again for clarification she added, “Lex is the almost perfect incarnation of a ‘bad boy’ – or at least he was when he was young and it’s stuck with him. I know it must be hard to believe honey but there is something about that type of guy that appeals to most women.”

“That makes me feel so much better about the state of our marriage,” Pete quipped dryly before he could stop himself. “Should I go out and buy myself a motorcycle and get myself a tattoo?”

Unusually for her Lana snorted her reply and said, “I’m not quite sure you could pull it off – sort of like when Clark tried that time.”

“I could so pull it off&#33;” Pete exclaimed. “Besides… Clark didn’t look *that* bad.”

“I hate to tell you this Petey but he looked like he’d raided Lex’s wardrobe but still managed to get it wrong… that or he looked like a bit part player from a cheesy porn movie.”

“Please tell me you’re joking because I *really* want the image that put in my head out of it.”

“Ooh&#33; Now I’m intrigued,” the brunette said perking up again. “What image would that be?”

“Clark and Lex… No&#33;” Pete shook his head rapidly. “Just… don’t, okay? Not unless you want to turn your husband into a jabbering shell of a man.”

“But…” Lana began mischievously.

“No.”

“But…”

“No, and can I just say you’re showing way too much interest for comfort.”

Lana grinned. Leaning over she placed a sloppy kiss on his cheek before saying, “Try not to feel too threatened honey – you know you’re the only one for me.”

[tigerbaby]

:yay: WOO HOO, an update&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33; :yay:


“I hate to tell you this Petey but he looked like he’d raided Lex’s wardrobe but still managed to get it wrong… that or he looked like a bit part player from a cheesy porn movie.”

I laughed so hard at this line, I nearly choked&#33; Thanks for making my morning :blinkkiss:

[vardaquareien]

:yay3: You updated&#33; You updated&#33; Whoo-hoo&#33;&#33;&#33; :yay3:

This was another great chapter. I can&#39;t wait to see Chlex on their own while they go and get the drinks&#33; The Plana was just great, I agree with Aimee, the line about BadClark&#33; was hilarious :hehe:

Can&#39;t wait for your next update&#33;

[asharnanae]

“Clark and Lex… No&#33;” Pete shook his head rapidly. “Just… don’t, okay? Not unless you want to turn your husband into a jabbering shell of a man.”


hahah, this has to be my fave line&#33;&#33;&#33;

great update&#33;&#33; worth the wait&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;

[drina]

No chlex interaction here? hopefully there will be that in the next chapter.

but this is great, really funny. :biggrin:

[Tandy]

:lol: I loved this chapter and I can&#39;t wait for the next one. I wonder how Chloe will torture Lex&#33;


Tandy

[jaded-swan]

Love Pete in this story...
there was no doubt in Pete’s mind that if Lana hadn’t persisted in wearing the damn thing then Clark would have found a way in worm his way into her heart more quickly and that the effects of his doing so would probably have been more permanent.

it&#39;s so sweet and funny... love the wit...

[Brittany]

:biggrin: Great chapter, I can&#39;t wait to see what happens with Chlex next&#33; Please update soon&#33;&#33;&#33;

[hfce]

More please....



Hope ;)

[celticangel]

I need some Chlex. So hurry up and update. :yay: :chlexsign1: Pleeease.

[SexInStilettos]

that was great...drunk lana is funny...and i love how chloe playe dwith all of them by taking a long time...but please update again soon&#33;

[deessedelune]

Aww..cute Plana interaction..but where&#39;s the Chlex love?

More please&#33;

[buffiy18]

Cute chapter. Looking forward to more Chlex...

[happy bunny]

This is sooooo funny&#33;&#33; I really can&#39;t wait to see what happens next&#33;

[autumngold]

Please, please update again soon&#33; I can&#39;t wait to read the next part&#33; Maybe it will have more Chlex in it? Please&#33;&#33; :yay2: :chlexsign4:

[Impress]

bout time you updated missy. cute. the Plana was nice. But I want Chlex. ;)

[peepsRfun2eat]

you updated&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33; :yay: :yay: :yay:
sorry was just really excited. now update some more&#33;&#33;

[georgee5]

I hate to say it, but "Please, may I have some more?"

:yay: :chlexsign3: :yay:

[randa]

this fic is soo much fun&#33;&#33; i cant wait for an update


randa

[SinnerSaint]

Please please hurry and write more . I desperately need to read smooth and seductive Lex . Plus I really love this story and NEED more.

[lunaluthor]

I want some Chlex come on I&#39;m dying here

[Lady Candy]

I imagine that the next part will be anything between Lex and Chloe, I&#39;m waiting for it ;)

[Sab_Luthor]

ok you know you have to update right
so where is it
i see any update right now
so UPDATE SOON

[HumbugGirl]

7.

She was slowly starting to think that having a drink at dinner had been a really bad idea even though at the time it had seemed like such a good one considering her attempt at completely and utterly humiliating herself earlier. It had, however, left her mental functions slowed so much that not only had she found herself thinking everything from the waiter’s tux at dinner to Lex’s personalised license plate was humorous to being stuck alone in a car with Lex Luthor while dangerously off kilter. If a more perfect chance for interviewing the illustrious billionaire ever came along then she would grow wings and fly away to Mars at the same time; as it was however she was in no position to take advantage of her rather fortuitous situation. Her only conciliation seemed to be that at least she hadn’t been as tipsy as Lana had been.

Sat in Lex’s latest little sports car Chloe found herself growing increasingly uncomfortable as she tried to put her thoughts in order and ended up with something that more closely resembled Smallville - post the last tornado that had ripped through town that is. Abruptly she realised Lex had been speaking and shook herself, turning her head towards him with wide eyes. “Huh?” Way to sound intelligent Chlo’ she thought.

“I didn’t think you were listening,” Lex observed.

Trying to put as big an airhead expression on her face as she could manage Chloe said, “It’s this bright shinny car&#33; I can’t help it if it dazzles the wits out of me.”

Lex smirked at her. “Don’t worry about it; it happens a lot.” It was said with an air of sarcasm that Chloe was more than wiling to admit she had walked right into. Still she found herself narrowing her eyes at him, old mental muscles she had not flexed in years except on occasion suddenly leaping to the fore, flaring to life and making her give an answering smirk.

“Well, that’s no fault but your own. No one *tells* you who to date after all.”

“Does this class as a date then?” It was said with raised eyebrows that left Chloe cursing the moment she had opened her mouth without fully thinking through the consequences.

Chloe snorted her answer. “Lex, if you’re that hard up for dates that you have to relay on your friends to set you up with people then the world is seriously screwed up.” She thought for a moment and then amended, “Either that or it’s less screwed up than I thought it was.” He looked at her for explanation but Chloe shook her head refusing to clarify. Instead she chose to change the subject and added, “You never told me what you were saying.”

“When?”

“Before – when I wasn’t paying attention,” she admitted reluctantly. To her surprise Lex sniggered and the blonde quickly added, “Contrary to whatever you may believe, you’re not interesting one-hundred percent of the time Lex and I am not some brainless bimbo who will hang on your every word despite that fact. Deal with it; it’s a fact of life.”

“I never believed you were Chloe,” he answered abruptly turning the steering wheel so that they entered the parking lot of the all night store and throwing Chloe against the door of the car as he did so.

She peered at him and muttered, “At least I know who Lana sweet-talked into teaching her the finer points of driving.”

“I believe that Lana already knew how to drive long before I arrived in Smallville.”

“You’re right, but I imagine that seeing you racing around town has inspired her to whole new levels of daring.”

“Lana doesn’t strike me as the daring sort.”

“Oh she’s not,” Chloe said with a small shudder. “And *that’s* the frightening part. She doesn’t realise she’s being daring so she tends to walk into things, dangerous things normally, blind; all of which spells trouble for whoever she’s with at the time.”

Lex chuckled his reply.

“You think I’m joking?” Chloe asked. “Okay, you tell me this, have you *ever* known Pete to let Lana drive him anywhere?”

The billionaire appeared to think on it for a moment as he steered his car into a parking space with practiced ease before turning off the ignition. “First thing in the morning I’ll look into bribing someone to have her license revoked.” He said the words so solemnly that seconds later Chloe burst out laughing and Lex grinned broadly at her. “You think I’m joking but…”

“You’re joking,” Chloe interrupted.

“How can you tell?”

“Because, at least recently Lex, you’ve been squeaky clean.” Chloe watched carefully for any sign of discomfort but Lex’s face remained stoic. He turned away from her and reached towards the door handle before he spoke again.

“Rather like you friend Mr Wayne then in that respect.”

He was out of the car before the frown even hit Chloe’s features and stood before the windscreen before she even had a chance to react further than that. Clambering out Chloe marched after him. “How do you know about Bruce?”

The unreadable expression flickered away and was replaced by one which was evidently interested. “As a businessman, if I didn’t know about Bruce then I wouldn’t be very good at my job and in case you haven’t noticed, I’m exceptionally good at my job. Besides, we went to school together.”

“That isn’t what I meant and you know it.” Grabbing hold of his arm she spun him around to face her again. Judging by the startled expression on his features it had been the last thing he had been expecting. “Sorry to crease the suit but do you mind telling me *how* you know about me and Bruce?”

Lex sighed and very purposefully made a display of not straightening out the wrinkles in his suit. “For someone in the media you seem to have a remarkably basic and narrow view of what is newsworthy material. In other words, Bruce Wayne wandering around functions and restaurants with a pretty little blonde on his arm was bound to make someone sit up and take notice even if it was only the tabloid press.”

He turned away from her once again and began to walk away once again leaving Chloe with the feeling she had missed something in his words. I really must be off form tonight she thought before hastening to catch up with him for a second time.

Under the harsh light of the convenience store Lex looked tired to her, the words ‘easy prey’ popping into Chloe’s mind as she watched him breeze past the amazed looking clerk and down one of the aisles. Chloe gave the woman - middle-aged and somewhat homely looking – an almost apologetic appearing smile before she scurried off after Lex, cursing the high heals that she had chosen to wear as she found herself tottering along on the tiled floor while making an absurd amount of noise. Rounding the end of one aisle she spotted him in the distance standing before what appeared to be a wall of alcohol. Sliding up to stand by his side and also turning to look at the shelves she said, “You know, you just displayed almost bloodhound levels of skill in tracking this lot down – something you want to tell me Lex?”

The corner of his lips curled up into yet another smirk. “Nothing I’d want to say to a reporter.”

“You know Luthor, I don’t know quite how to take you tonight,” she said with a small shake of her head as he stepped forwards and picked a bottle off the shelf before frowning at it. “One moment you’re criticising my journalist abilities and the next you’re complimenting them.”

“I never criticised them,” Lex said quickly. He put the bottle back down and turned to her, shoving his hands in the pockets of his jacket. The image he presented was an oddly cramped one and Chloe smiled. The smile got wider as she noticed the evidently uncomfortable expression on his face but lasted only a moment or too longer than that as Lex abruptly pulled his hands from his pockets and took a step towards her. In the time it took for Chloe to draw in a breath he was stood before her, distractingly close and with his head cocked on one side as he appeared to study her from head to toe. “I would never criticise anything of yours Chloe,” he said keeping his tone low.

Uncomfortable Chloe brought her arms up to cross over her chest and attempted to put a defiant expression on her features. When they just stared to each other for what seemed like an overly long period of time she found herself having to resist the urge to start tapping a foot impatiently.

“Have I mentioned how much I appreciate your outfit?”

His words were said in such a way that Chloe felt her heart do a small irregular beat of excitement. Absently she wondered whether there was some sort of special course that billionaires went on in order to learn charms as she remember Bruce attempting to use a similar tactic on her once before. She let out a long theatrical sigh before saying, “You do realise you’re coming off sounding like a big ol’ slime ball right?”

Lex blinked in amazement then his face underwent the most surprising metamorphosis that Chloe could have imagined under the circumstances. Abruptly his eyes widened, his brow creased together and the corners of his mouth turned down into the least sincere hurt puppy-dog expression she had ever seen in her life. Strangely enough on Lex’s face however it almost *did* seem sincere, perhaps because she had never seen it there before, and almost instantly Chloe regretted her choice of words. Undoubtedly Lex had meant nothing by his comment; he was probably just being Lex who, as probably every other woman for a hundred mile radius knew, was a consummate flirt even when under pressure at the worst of times. Hell, she’d had more than one run in with him when she was younger because of it. The fact was that Lex couldn’t help himself, it was probably some sort of insecurity issues that he still had from his childhood which made him act out in a way that would supposedly bring him closer to people and she had behaved her a jerk in return instead of the acting more like the adult she had always professed to be.

Feeling more than a little angry with her self Chloe reached across and touched his arm lightly. “Don’t listen to me… I’m drunk and I’m being an ass.”

In a characteristic gesture Lex raised an eyebrow at her in speculation before relaxing it and saying, “Yes, you were.”

Chloe found her self speechless. She had been expecting him to say something to the effect that he wasn’t really bothered, that he’d been acting and that he had been having a joke at her expense while offering her a smug little smile. Instead he had turned serious in a manner which was almost unthinkable and Chloe found that it made her blood boil. Taking the hand that had been resting on his arm she raised it and shoved him hard on the shoulder, much harder that she had intended while saying, “You jerk&#33; I was trying to be nice but nooo… you have to go and be awful like that&#33;”

“Chloe…” he said reaching out.

Before he could touch her Chloe shoved him again and spun to walk away. Let him get his own damn booze she thought with a small mental snarl.

She wasn’t even a step away before the sound filtered into her ears; a fracturing, splintering sound that made her turn again towards him. As she did so Chloe’s eyes widened to epic proportions and she began to laugh.

[scifichick774]

Oh, man. You finally updated&#33; Yay&#33; Now do it again. I&#39;m serious.

[tigerbaby]

AHHHHHHHHH&#33;&#33;&#33;

How could you just leave it there?&#33;?&#33;?&#33;?&#33;?&#33; I wait forever for an update and you just leave it there *sighs* Torture, just plain old torture.

And Chloe dear...


“You know Luthor, I don’t know quite how to take you tonight,” she said

...if you don&#39;t know, then I certainly ain&#39;t gonna tell you. :devil:

[hfce]

More please.....





Hope :cool:

[happy bunny]

Woo-hoo&#33; You updated&#33; *does little happy jig*

*pouts* But how could you leave it there?? That&#39;s just cruel. :tease:

Now go and gimme another update.



“You know Luthor, I don’t know quite how to take you tonight,” she said
...if you don&#39;t know, then I certainly ain&#39;t gonna tell you.

:lol: at Aimee, who&#39;s perpetually in the gutter.

[Impress]

good update. except that it wasn&#39;t long enough. oh and it ended. but other than that...good update. :blinkkiss:

[buffiy18]

Update Good :yay2: :yay2:

:chlexsign3:

[SinnerSaint]

Angels are singing inside my head because you updated&#33;&#33; Yeah &#33; You updated &#33; I am dancing around the room because you updated &#33; Wonderful chapter &#33;

[ladymichelle]

Love the story&#33; I hate cliffhangers though so please update soon&#33;

Michelle

[georgee5]

And you stop there&#33;?&#33;?&#33;?&#33;?&#33;?&#33;?&#33;?&#33;? If there was some way I could reach through the screen and throttling you for leaving me with so a cliffhanger I would...

This message is being interupted by a good message...

Good story, can&#39;t wait to get some more Chlex&#33; :blinkkiss:

[SexInStilettos]

that was a great update&#33;&#33;&#33; I love the bickering becuase you know it is all because of sexual tension.....

[autumngold]

I&#39;m so excited you updated&#33; Yay&#33;&#33; :biggrin: But please update again soon, I want to know what happened at the end&#33;&#33; :chlexsign3:

[gina]

I&#39;m loving this story&#33; Please update soon, I&#39;m dying to know what happened&#33; :biggrin:

[randa]

did he end up in the wall of liquor? it would be soo funny if he does&#33; :biggrin:
so update soon

randa

[Sab_Luthor]

oh yay an update
and a great update
thanks so muche
but now you have to update verys soon

[vardaquareien]

:yay3: Yay you updated&#33;&#33;&#33; :yay3:
...and there was Chlexy flirting&#33;&#33;&#33; Now get back here and give us more&#33;&#33;&#33;

[gravelgerdie]

Loving this story.... can&#39;t wait for more.. :biggrin:

Suzanne

[peepsRfun2eat]

*speaking softly digging toe into floor and looking at something on the ground* yeah so ummm.... yeah *looks up* could i have another update.

*looks down at floor agian* i mean you just left us there it wouldn&#39;t be fair to just leave us there.

*looks up puppy dog eyes in place* update? please?

[Sab_Luthor]

update soon please
i can&#39;t wait more longer

[HumbugGirl]

I know I say this every single time but I&#39;m SOOOO sorry that this has taken so long to finish up on. The good news is I think I&#39;m getting the flow back on this fic so you might see more again soon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

8.

One moment it seemed as if he were hovering in the air and the next he was falling backwards. Landing with a thud that jarred his hip at first Lex barely registered the sound of glass breaking before the sound of bright laughter filled his ears. He took a moment to compose himself as well as he could seeing as he was sitting in the middle of a ever growing puddle of alcohol before looking up at Chloe who was actually having to clutch her sides as she laughed. Wincing he sat up and then inspected his hands while scowling. Luckily he had managed to avoid putting his hands on any of the broken glass but the pain in his back, and, unfortunately from his butt, seemed to want to tell him he had not avoided the shards entirely.

“It would be helpful if you’d offer me a hand,” he said dryly.

“I don’t know,” Chloe replied in between giggles. “It kind of feels good to see you looking a little lost.”

With a roll of his eyes Lex said, “Chloe Sullivan a sadist; who would ever have guessed?”

She grinned at him broadly, showing a full flash of teeth. “Aw, doesn’t little Lexy like that?”

“Little Lexy,” Lex said, forcing the words to come out of his mouth. “Would like a little help before he even thinks of answering that question.”

“I don’t know…”

“Chloe&#33;” he barked causing her to giggle once again and take the necessary steps towards him. The blonde woman held out her hand for him to take, pulling it away before he had the chance to grasp her fingers and laughing at the exasperated expression on his face. “Chloe…” he began.

“Okay, okay,” she laughed then raised an eyebrow, the expression on her face sending a wave of apprehension through him as he realised abruptly that she must have had an idea. “Say ‘please’.”

Shaking his head a little Lex said, “Chloe…”

“Go on…”

“No.”

“Aw, go on… Actually say ‘please, Mistress’.”

He spluttered. He actually spluttered before he could stop himself from doing so even as his eyes widened considerably and he wondered whether he was indeed sensing the rush of blood heading through his body in the direction that he thought it was heading. Pushing that final thought as far away as he could manage, Lex swallowed his surprise and asked with a wicked inflection to his voice, “Are you going to make me crawl to you as well?”

Chloe shifted her stance a little and appeared to ponder his suggestion. “The mighty Lex Luthor crawling across broken glass for me… hmm… it’s a very tempting idea.” She looked at him expectantly, clearly waiting for him to make the next move.

With a small sigh of protest Lex said, “Please Mistress Chloe,” eliciting a giggle from Chloe and a gasp from the middle-aged shop assistant who had appeared around the end of the aisle to see what had happened.

“Well I…” the woman began, flushed and turned quickly to hurry back in the direction she had come from.

Looking up at Chloe who was still giggling Lex said, “Great, just great. You may not have to live in this town Miss Sullivan but I do.”

She raised an eyebrow at him and said, “Back to ‘Miss Sullivan’?” Lex only shook his head in reply and she added, “Wow, I didn’t realise you would still be so stuffy. At the restaurant I thought the years had managed to relax you a bit but it would seem I was wrong.”

The look he gave her was a dry calculating one as her words hit him with surprising force. Chloe barely seemed to notice however as she came to stand over him and held out her hand. Reaching up quickly he took the offer of help, grasping her hand in his and moving as if to push his body as much as possible into a standing position. As his fingers closed around hers however and he felt her begin to tug Lex gave the blonde woman and sharp tug to propel her towards him, listening to the startled cry she gave and delighting in the look of shock on her features. Wrapping arms around her smaller frame to stop her from slipping sideways in the glass Lex laughed aloud as she immediately began to struggle to move away from him again. Finally, with a ‘huff’, she pushed away from him, landing on her ass on the floor before him and scowling for all she was worth. The image of her looking so disgruntled made him laugh again and she snarled, “It’s not funny&#33;”

“I disagree, it’s very funny.”

She narrowed her eyes at him and said, “You’re just lucky I didn’t hurt myself or you would be looking at one hell of a lawsuit mister&#33;”

“You wouldn’t sue me,” he said defiantly.

“Wanna bet?”

“No.” At the smug expression of satisfaction that slipped onto Chloe’s features he added, “Because I know I’m right and ergo have no need or desire to gamble. You have too much pride to sue me.”

“And how do you figure that one exactly?”

Lex shrugged. “You would hate to admit that firstly I managed to outsmart you and secondly that you were hurt by something I had done.”

There was a flicker of uncertainty in her eyes and he knew he had a victory on his hands. Not even looking at him again Chloe pushed herself into a standing position and looked down at him. “I don’t know whether you’ve noticed Lex but that wasn’t the smartest thing you’ve ever done in your life.” When he raised a questioning eyebrow she said, “Well, you see, you’re stuck down there now because there is no way in hell I’m going to help you up. Want me to call the shop assistant for you Lex? I’m sure she’d be able to help you up but it might be a little embarrassing.”

It was his turn to feel confused although the sensation was numbed by the delight he was still enjoying. It took barely a moment for him to decide what to do and then he began to shuffle forwards until he was as clear of the glass as he could manage to be and able to move into a standing position while ignoring Chloe’s renewed giggles and wincing at the pinpricks of pain he could feel. Regaining control of his limbs he leaned forwards and said close to her ear, “It was worth it.” With that he turned and walked stiffly down the aisle with the silent hope nestling in him that at any moment Chloe would come running up to him and help him.

Chloe, however, seemed determined to be stubborn. As he had hoped she came running towards him but instead of helping him she merely walked by his side, his hope of a helping hand completely unsatisfied. When he had limped at least half the length of the aisle, the expression on his face gradually becoming increasingly pained, he heard her gave a sigh and she asked, “Where do you think you’re going anyway?”

“My car,” was his brusque answer.

“Lex, you can’t possibly drive. You’re hurt.”

Lifting his head high he at first ignored her comment, secretly pleased at the rather sudden display of concern she was showing. That was not something he was going to let become evident on his face however. “I’m sure I’ll manage somehow.”

“Don’t be an ass,” she said immediately. “Come on, there must be somewhere around here where he can check out if you’ve managed to do any permanent damage to yourself.”

For a second his steps faltered as he looked at her in amazement. “Ugh, Chloe, in case you’ve forgotten you were the one who started all this.”

She shrugged her shoulders. “That may well be but if you had taken my help when I offered it instead of messing around then I’m sure things would have been all the better for it.”

Feeling his damp clothes seeming to tighten around him and stick to his skin Lex shook his head reluctantly and gave in. With a grin he found unable to suppress he asked, “Does this mean you’re going to be my nurse?” The thought, and the swing of Chloe’s hips as he continued to walk away from him, immediately brought to mind a picture of Chloe dressed in a tight white little nurse’s uniform and briefly Lex felt a tightening in another region of his body which had very little to do with drying clothes. He found himself suddenly grateful for the image and even more so when Chloe shot him a knowing little look over her shoulder.

It was almost worth the way he found himself waddling around the corner and to the front of the shop after her.

The shop assistant was waiting for him with wide eyes by the time he made it to the counter. Chloe had apparently already spoken to the woman and as Lex came to a halt he felt her grab his arm and lead him off in the direction of a door that led into some sort of staff changing room. Lex looked around the room apprehensively and then even more so at the handful of medical supplies Chloe appeared to have procured when he wasn’t looking.

“I charged them to your account,” she said when she caught him staring at her.

“I wasn’t even aware that I had an account here.”

“You didn’t but the name ‘Luthor’ opens a lot of doors – I would have thought you would already have known that.”

Lex rolled his eyes at her and then asked, “So how do you plan on doing this?”

Putting her back to him Chloe placed the things she was holding down on the table that occupied the centre of the room. Keeping her back to him and pretending to fiddle with the things she had deposited Chloe said, “Well I guess the best way to start would be to have you drop your pants.”

He couldn’t have heard her correctly. That was the only thought that would come to Lex’s mind but as she turned nervously towards him he realised that was exactly what she had said. With a smirk he said, “That’s one of the most original ways I’ve heard that someone has asked to get my clothes off me in a long time.”

“Don’t let it go to your head,” Chloe said.

“Don’t let it go to yours,” Lex responded with a grin. “Well Nurse Chloe, where do you want me?”

With a smirk she said, “You really don’t want me to answer that question.”

He chuckled laughter. “Ouch.”

“Aw Lex, you must have heard worse than that before. Now come on, unless you want to sit around with glass in your ass get over here and drop ‘em.”

“I would feel better if someone more qualified did this… say anyone but you,” he said wryly.

“I can always go and get Doris if you want,” Chloe replied glibly.

“Doris?”

“The shop assistant.”

“I think I’ll pass but thanks anyway.”

“Oh come on,” Chloe said. “She looks like a really nice lady; I’m sure she’d help… actually I don’t think we should submit her to the trauma of having to look at your ass.”

He raised his eyebrows at her, moving forwards slowly to where she stood. “And yet you’re willing to.”

“Don’t let it go to your head – I’m being a martyr.”

“You’re a positive saint Chloe.”

“I know. Now come on before I change my mind.”

“Well if you’re sure you’re ready.”

[autumngold]

:chlexsign4: Poor Lex&#33; I feel so sorry for him&#33;&#33; Only his Luthor pride could keep him from feeling ridiculous&#33;&#33; Please let Chloe start being nicer to him&#33;&#33; Thank you so much for the update&#33;&#33; I&#39;m glad you decided to continue your story&#33;&#33;

[asharnanae]

:biggrin: fantastico&#33;&#33;&#33; :yay:

[buffiy18]

Oh, this is hilarious&#33; I cna&#39;t wait to see/read the next part with Lex&#39; pants around his knees and Chloe checking out his @&#036;&#036;. Please don&#39;t make us wait too long... this is getting good. Oh and the things that can happen with a half dressed lex and Chloe in a stock room :biggrin: :biggrin:

:chlexsign3:

[hfce]

Good update .


Hope :cool:

[vardaquareien]

http://img8.photobucket.com/albums/v28/vardaquareien/Smilies/ROFL.gif Oh this is priceless&#33;&#33;&#33;

I can&#39;t wait for Chloe to get his pants down and to see the &#39;fun&#39; that ensues&#33;&#33;&#33; ;)

[estrellalily]

Soooooooooo funny&#33; ;) i love it&#33; LOVE IT :wub: LLLLOOOOOOOVVVVVEEEEEE IT :wub: Update soon please :yay:
:yay: happy writting :yay:
~estrellalily

[Impress]

good work. more soon.

[sara_noele]

Update&#33; update&#33; You can&#39;t let us wait here. ;)

[SinnerSaint]

Chloe should search his entire body very carefully for broken glass . You cant be too careful &#33; :blinkkiss:

[buffiy18]

Originally posted by SinnerSaint@Jan 6 2004, 10:21 AM
Chloe should search his entire body very carefully for broken glass . You cant be too careful &#33; :blinkkiss:
I second that &#33; :biggrin:

[hickchick]

this is really good&#33;

i can&#39;t wait to read more&#33; please update soon.

[ghostwriter]

god that was hilarious. :hehe: i hope we get an update soon :biggrin:

[Sab_Luthor]

oh god that so hilarious i loved it
more please

[SexInStilettos]

aww that was great flirting..please uopdate again :biggrin:

[randa]

i loved their bantering&#33;
now, lex needs to drop his pants and chloe needs to...im just gonna stop there

randa

[Tandy]

MOre&#33; More&#33; MOre&#33; more&#33; lol&#33; I love this fic really&#33; The bantering is great&#33;

[gina]

LMAO&#33; Awesome update&#33; Their verbal judo is so great&#33;

Can&#39;t wait to see what&#39;s gonna happen next&#33; Please post more soon&#33; :)

[peepsRfun2eat]

please don&#39;t leave me hanging&#33; that was an awesome last chapter. and lex needs to drop his pants. so update please&#33;

[MissMed03]

Come on Lex, drop them suckers and let&#39;s get this road on the show. I&#39;m glad you didn&#39;t stop writing this, i was beginning to worry. Great update, btw, (as if you didn&#39;t know,) update soon, k?

[Lex]

Lol&#33; Hilarious fic&#33; :hehe: Lex in those shorts was just too funny&#33; Still looks like Chloe&#39;s gonna be the one to suffer now... I hope you update soon&#33; :biggrin:

[HumbugGirl]

10.

The one conciliation that she had was that it was happening out in the middle of nowhere. After Lex’s own rather eventful evening it was something of a downer. When he had first realised what was about to happen he had been certain that it was his moment for revenge, he had been certain that this was something which could potentially cause her as much embarrassment as she had managed to cause him so far that evening but no, she had to go and save herself by waiting until they were out in the middle of nowhere before needing to throw up.

Lex glanced from one side to the other, eyes peering down the long dark road. Not a single car insight; it seemed unfair somehow.

Looking back down he watched as Chloe slowly sat back on her heals and then manoeuvred herself so that she was sitting with her back against the side of his car. Her features were bleached, her eyes shut as she clearly fought down another wave of nausea and there was the smallest trail of drool running down her chin. Even as he looked at her Chloe raised her hand and gingerly wiped it away.

“Drinking bad,” she finally said, rather authoritatively with the barest nod of her which from the look on her face she instantly regretted. “Drinking very bad indeed.”

“This can’t be the first time you’ve thrown up while drunk?” Lex asked in disbelief.

She looked up at him with dark eyes. “I was talking about the feeling of regurgitating alcohol. I wasn’t talking about being drunk in general. In fact, this is pretty much your fault.”

He raised an eyebrow at her. “And how do you figure that exactly?”

“You know very well,” she answered and dropped her head into her hands. The sight left him grinning but he restrained himself from saying any more. After a second she held out a hand in his direction holding it there until he took it and pulled her up onto her feet again. She groaned and leaned forwards, placing a hand against his chest to steady herself.

For a second Lex tensed and felt his heart jump in surprise at the feeling of warmth through his shirt. He forced himself to relax and yet there was a lingering thought in his mind that refused to go away. Abruptly Lex reminded himself of just why he was around Chloe in the first place, not just the deal he had made with Clark and Pete but his desire to know just why Bruce kept her around. It didn’t hurt that she was having some sort of effect on him but it couldn’t be his main consideration.

He curled his fingers around hers and slipped the other hand down to just under her elbow, supporting it until she was stood on her own. Her hand lingered still and Lex had to wonder whether she realised what it was she was doing.

“Feeling better?” he asked.

“Not really and there’s no need to look so smug about it.”

“They do say everything comes back on you Chloe; just think of this as payback for earlier.”

“Again, stop with the smugness.”

“All actions have consequences,” Lex said.

The blonde woman groaned again. “Please Lex… I’ll do anything. Just shut up a moment – my hangover seems to have come early.”

“I thought this wasn’t drink related?”

She rolled her eyes. “A woman is allowed to change her mind.”

He chuckled before he could stop himself and received yet another icy glare. “Come on, I’ll call Pete and tell him we’re going to give tonight a miss and then I’ll get you home.”

Chloe nodded a little and allowed herself to be handed back into the car. Hurrying around to the other side Lex climbed inside, momentarily forgetting about his injuries and wincing even as he looked at Chloe and noted the greenish colouring, something he hadn’t even been entirely sure was possible, that was showing on her face and praying that she didn’t end up ruining the interior of his car. That one thought made him decide to drive more carefully than he had ever done before; anyone who might have seen Lex driving home that night would have been more likely to wonder whether his car had stolen rather than think that Lex was actually driving it.

His phone call with Pete was tense. The man had apparently fallen asleep on the couch next to his wife waiting for the other pair to arrive and the phone call which startled him awake left him in a less than perfect mood. “Where the hell are you?” Pete rasped down the phone to him.

“Somewhere out by the Talbot farm – I’m not entirely sure where.”

“That’s over the other side of town. Actually it’s further away than that&#33; How the hell did you manage up all the way out there?”

“You don’t want to know,” Lex answered.

“Maybe I do…”

“No you don’t. Listen, I don’t think it would be a good idea if we came over tonight. I’m just going to take Chloe home…”

“What?&#33; Already?” To say that Pete sounded shocked was an understatement and for a moment Lex almost winced at his words.

“No, not like that,” Lex answered immediately although when he thought about it for a second he half wished he had not denied it. “She’s drunk…” he elaborated.

“Am not,” he heard Chloe say as she rolled her head against the window.

“…So I’m taking her home so she can sleep it off.”

“Ooh,” Pete answered. “Well… okay then.”

“I’ll catch you later.”

“Sure.”

The line went dead in his hand and Lex tucked his cell away into one packet of his jacket. Glancing over at Chloe he watched her as she continued to roll her forehead against the cool of the window. The reflection made in the window against the dark of the sky outside showed that she had closed her eyes, golden lashes fluttering softly against her cheeks. He almost found himself reaching towards her in order to tuck some loose strands of hair behind her ear. He almost found himself trying to touch her shoulder to pull her back against the seat. He almost found himself contemplating what would happen if he decided to pull her out of her seat and onto his lap.

Lex shook himself as she groaned once more and muttered, “Not drunk. Not much.”

Instead of the thousands of thoughts that suddenly rushed into his head, a multitude of comforting comments that were entirely unexpected and most definitely new to him Lex opened his mouth and said, “You throw up again and you’re paying the cleaning bill.”

The next groan stopped dead in her throat and she turned to look at him, putting her back against the car door as she did so. “That’s *so* not nice.”

“Contrary to popular belief I do not like paying out every other day in order to have cars or even car parts replaced.” She pouted at him. “Do me a favour Chloe and put your seatbelt on so we can get moving.”

She sighed and shuffled around in the car, the action twisting the material of her top and resulting in one of the straps falling down. This time he didn’t even think, only reached out and pushed it back up although his baser instincts demanded he push it further down.

Drunk, he reminded himself. She’s drunk and despite the fact the this entire situation has been orchestrated in order to end up with the two of us in bed Pete and Clark and Lana – god Lana would kill him – would not be very appreciative of some drunken interlude.

By the time that Lex swung his car around and pulled it up to a halt looking over at Chloe proved that she had fallen soundly asleep. Her face was turned towards him, utterly peaceful and in the pale light from the house just as youthful as it had been when she had lived in Smallville and he had last seen her. Whatever else could be said the years had been good to Chloe Sullivan and not just in her face. Letting his eyes roam south he retraced the regions of her body that he had spent more than a little time admiring in the evening; Chloe’s body was just as full, just as ripe and just as promising as he could remember it being. The men in her life must have been insane.

“Keep looking at me like that and I’ll start thinking you mean something by it.”

His eyes darted to her face and he found her looking right at him. “Maybe I do,” he said letting a suggestive gleam enter into his expression.

Her breath hitched; just for the shortest second and he caught it and savoured. “Unless I am even drunker than I think I am and I think I might actually have already started to sober up this isn’t my house.”

Lex looked around at the mansion and nodded slowly. “No it isn’t.” When she looked at him for explanation he added, “I didn’t think your dad would appreciate being woken this late at night and from the sound of things when I rang Pete he and Lana had pretty much already given up on us.”

“Huh.”

“Huh?”

“Yeah, huh.”

Curling the corner of his lips slightly he asked, “Want to explain that comment?”

“Not really but if you ask really nicely I might.”

“I’m asking nicely,” Lex said. “I could ask even more nicely but that would involve even buying you a *really* expensive piece of jewellery or an extended period in the bedroom.”

She choked out a burst of laughter and shook her head slowly; the expression on her features showing that she clearly regretted the hasty action only a second later. “There better be a spare bedroom made up,” she said and climbed out of the car.

The blonde didn’t wait for him; she walked right up to the front door then turned and looked expectantly at her with her arms folded across her chest. Lex sighed and climbed out, locking the car and walking slowly up the steps towards her. Seconds later and they were in the comparative warmth of the mansion and he was taking her coat from her.

“Best I remember,” the blonde said. “You used to have a butler to do this.”

“I had to give him his notice,” Lex answered.

“You didn’t get another?”

“I did but he only works the dayshift or special occasions. I’m not overly keen of having one hanging around the house on a night time seeing as the first one turned out to be a mutant.”

Chloe raised her eyebrows as she looked over her shoulder at him. “You don’t screen them?”

Smirking Lex said, “The agency doesn’t seem to think checking for mutants qualifies as something you can actually put on a questionnaire.”

She chuckled and ran her fingers back through her hair shaking it and musing it. “Where’s this bedroom then?”

“You don’t want a cup of coffee first?” The blonde shook her head gently in response and he added, “I never thought I’d see the day.”

“I started getting the shakes when I didn’t drink enough cups per day so I decided to cup back.”

Lex grinned at her. “*Cup* back?”

“Damn-it. Cut back. I meant *cut* back.”

He laughed and before she could respond he wrapped an arm around her waist and began to walk them both along the corridor. “To bed then,” he said.

“Separately.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“I’m positive,” Chloe replied dryly.

“Well if you want to risk choking on your own vomit…”

“That’s disgusting.”

“It’s true.”

“I’ve been a lot drunker than this before,” Chloe said. “And I’ve never even come close to choking on my own vomit.”

“There’s a first time for everything Chloe.”

She stopped in the middle of the corridor. They had just reached the base of the staircase and she looked past him up it. “This better not be a stunt.”

“You’re starting to hurt my feelings now.” When she didn’t say anything; only wrinkled her brow in disbelief Lex added, “I’m not going to try anything. You’d probably kick the shit out of me even if I did.”

“Glad to know you know the facts of the situation,” Chloe said and walked past him up the stairs.

[Clannadlvr]

Hee hee hee....loved this:


anyone who might have seen Lex driving home that night would have been more likely to wonder whether his car had stolen rather than think that Lex was actually driving it.


Mr. Luthor certainly is known for his creative driving, isn&#39;t he?

great job&#33;

[hfce]

Yeah you updated. Good job :clap:


Hope :chlexsign2:

[autumngold]

I&#39;m so glad that you posted a new chapter&#33;&#33; This is such a great story&#33;&#33; I&#39;m so glad that Lex and Chloe are slowly starting to get along better&#33;&#33; I can&#39;t wait to read what you have planned next&#33;&#33; :chlexsign4:

[gina]

Drunk Chloe is funny, hehe. And I love the fact that she&#39;s spending the night at the mansion&#33;


Letting his eyes roam south he retraced the regions of her body that he had spent more than a little time admiring in the evening; Chloe’s body was just as full, just as ripe and just as promising as he could remember it being. The men in her life must have been insane.

Ooh, he so wants her, can&#39;t wait for him to act on it&#33;

Loved this update, more soon please&#33; :)

[LarkLuthor]

anyone who might have seen Lex driving home that night would have been more likely to wonder whether his car had stolen rather than think that Lex was actually driving it.

Mr. Luthor certainly is known for his creative driving, isn&#39;t he? Hehe. Great update. :biggrin: More soon?

Lark

[vardaquareien]

Oooooh how romantic, he&#39;s gonna make sure she doesn&#39;t choke on her own puke&#33;&#33;&#33; :hehe:

Great update&#33; Loved that Chloe caught him checking her out&#33;&#33;&#33; Can&#39;t wait for more&#33;&#33;&#33;...specially now that they&#39;re sharing a bed :satanwink:

[TheDragonLady]

Where is the :smut: ?


I lurv this, and I need some more&#33;


Get tah writin&#39;...

[asharnanae]

:biggrin: excelentay&#33;&#33;&#33; ohhh sooo fantastic&#33;&#33;&#33; :worship2: :yay:

[SinnerSaint]

Its funny , but somehow this story made vomiting seem almost ....sexy . JUST KIDDING&#33;&#33; I really like this story though , its hilarious . Cant wait for more &#33;&#33;&#33;

[sara_noele]

Hurray. Hurray an update&#33; :yay:

Oh i&#39;m completly in love with this story. I just love everything about it.
And Lex sharing the bed with a half drunken Chloe, oh that will be fun.

[Lex]

Great update&#33; I reckon you should name this chapter &#39;Chloe&#39;s Drunken Escapades&#39; - lol&#33; :biggrin: So will Lex get his revenge in the next chapter? I look forward to more&#33; ;)

[HumbugGirl]

11.

There was a tiny little voice warning her that if she even thought of opening her eyes then they were probably going to explode. There was an even bigger part of her wondering if it was natural to have homicidal thoughts towards an alarm clock.

It was that thought that made her stop. She was pretty certain that it wasn’t her own alarm clock after all and that meant only one thing – she had somehow managed to end up in someone else’s bed. At that moment however that seemed like that least of her concerns, not when the fact that she was contemplating throwing herself out of the window despite a rather harrowing teenage experience of a similar nature and all because of someone’s damn irritating alarm clock&#33;

Chloe rolled over and reached vaguely in the direction of where she imagined the offending object was from the sound of it and hoping that she was on the right side of the bed. Contrary to any semblance of good luck however it wasn’t the alarm clock that her hand met with, it wasn’t even the bedside dresser that she touched but something infinitely more organic and most definitely human. Keeping her eyes closed Chloe ran her hand over the flesh she had found, taking in the smooth nature of the skin, the firmness of it and the definition of the muscles. Well whoever it was they were certainly male and if she was right a rather nicely built male as well. They were also, as far as she could tell naked and that brought together all sorts of possibilities to Chloe’s mind that she couldn’t decide whether she was happy or not.

The man covered her hand as if rested on his chest with his own larger one and held it in place. “I’ll get it,” he said and then the bed shifted slightly as he moved.

Chloe however had sat up entirely too suddenly, her eyes wide open and just before she let her head drop forwards into her hands she yelped, “LEX&#33;” loudly.

“Yes?” came the groggy reply and slowly, very slowly Chloe turned her head to once side and looked at him on an angle. “You’re Lex.”

“Yes,” he said.

“Oh my god, I’m in bed with Lex Luthor.” Her face dropped into her hands again and she went very still. The next thing she knew there was a hand touching her shoulder; that same hand that covered hers only moments before and seemed so pleasing. It rubbed her flesh gently and even despite herself Chloe found herself relaxing under his touch.

“Chloe?”

“That would be me,” she said softly.

“Are you okay?”

She breathed in deeply before she answered; wondering how on earth she was going to answer the question. On the upside she was in bed with Lex Luthor, a man who time and time again was voted the more eligible man in the world and not just because of the size of his bank account. On the downside it was Lex Luthor and it wasn’t as if there was any chance in hell that this was ever going to turn into anything even remotely resembling a relationship. Whether that was something she would ever want was another matter entirely.

Turning her head to once side again she said quietly, “Hi.”

“Hi,” he replied with a smile.

“So… this would be your bedroom then?”

“Yes it is. Let me guess, you don’t remember anything from last night do you?”

“Not a whole lot,” Chloe admitted with a shrug. “I’m guessing it’s because my head pretty much seems to hate me this morning.”

A worried expression passed over his features and with something resembling a tentative tone he asked, “You’re not going to throw up again are you?”

“I threw up?” Chloe squeaked in despair.

Lex nodded slowly. “A couple of times.”

“Oh god.” She lay back abruptly, sinking into the soft mattress and staring at the bedroom ceiling. Even *that* didn’t look familiar.

Lex leaned over her, the billionaire’s figure looming large. “Nothing happened,” he said softly.

“Huh?”

“I said nothing happened. Last night, nothing happened. You were drunk and you didn’t feel well so we decided you should sleep in here with me.”

Looking up into his face Chloe saw the gleam in his eyes and said, “I don’t believe you.”

“You don’t.”

“No.”

Lex nodded slowly. “Okay. What makes you say that exactly?”

“You don’t look very honest,” Chloe replied while watching him for any reaction.

“Your trust in me is astounding. Honestly though, nothing happened. I wish it had – I was even tempted to *say* it had when I realised you didn’t remember but I can quite honestly say nothing happened.”

She squinted at him, thankful that the heavy curtains covering the windows were still drawn. “You could just be saying that because you were crap and you know that I don’t remember it.”

“Why would I do that? Why wouldn’t I just say I was amazing?”

Chloe snorted although she had to admit he did make rather a lot of sense.

“Anyway,” Lex added. “Why would it be me who was less than able? Why couldn’t it have been you who was lacking and out of kindness I decided to pretend so as to not cause you any embarrassment?”

She snorted laughter again and rolled to one side, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed and thankful to find that she was wearing pyjamas. Granted they were rather masculine but at least she wasn’t naked. “I would never be crap.”

There was a rustling on the bed and Lex appeared before her. For a second all Chloe could spy was an expanse of pale flesh belonging to his chest and then she spied his boxer shorts and found herself infinitely relieved.

“Chloe,” he said falling to his knees before her. “I swear we didn’t have sex.”

“Okay, I believe you.”

“Thank the lord&#33;” he exclaimed, flinging his hands up to the sky.

She grinned at him before wincing slightly. “Lex?” she said catching his attention once again.

“Yes?”

“I don’t suppose you have an aspirin do you?”

* * * *

Across town Lana was already up and moving stiffly around her kitchen by the time the alarm clock sounded in Lex Luthor’s bedroom. She couldn’t recall exactly what had happened the night before – or more importantly exactly how much she had managed to drink – but there was a little feeling nestling within her in the form of a rather violent need to throw up if she even so much as thought about moving too quickly that told her that the answer was ‘not good’. In fact it seemed as if the answer to every question that morning was ‘not good’ and that fact that Lana did not know why exactly that was the case was worrying.

The fact that Pete kept grinning at her over the breakfast table that morning hadn’t helped.

Thankfully though her husband had already headed out for what was set to be a full day’s work and seeing as he had not seemed in the least bit negatively effected by the drink they had consumed the night before Lana was certain that he was going to *stay* at work all day; which was probably one of the few goods things she knew as it meant that she had almost the entire day to recover and, she thought with a small smile, to find out what had happened to Chloe the night before. After casting a cautious question in Pete’s direction she had learned that Lex had called after they had fallen asleep and that he had said something about taking Chloe home, a quick phone call to Gabe Sullivan’s though had only served to discover that Chloe wasn’t there and panic the old man about what had happened to his daughter.

It was all that Lana could do not to let him come rushing over to her place after he discovered that Chloe had not spent the night there either; the idea of having the irate man running around her house and probably causing her hangover to worsen had less than appealing.

She subsequently found herself infinitely pleased to discover that there was no need for her to go into work at the coffee shop. Adding with a wry smile to herself that if Lex managed to come out with some smart assed comment about it then she would merely be able to point out that it was at least his fault to some extent as well. He had insisted on buying the wine after all.

Settling down onto the heavily padded couch she had talked Pete into buying two summers ago Lana drew her knees up to her side, took hold of the voluminous cup of hot chocolate she had made herself and reached for the telephone handset. Looking down at the keypad she dialled into the number of Chloe’s cell carefully then lifted it to her ear, satisfied to hear the ring tone to tell her that at least her blonde reporter friend hadn’t managed to turn it off. Moments later however with the phone still ringing she began to wonder whether Chloe might not have lost her phone after all. The Chloe she knew would never actually just leave the phone ringing when she knew that there might be a story or a friend at the other end of the line.

“Hello?” a voice said shaking Lana out of her thoughts and the brunette jumped, knocking the chocolate down herself and erupting in a line of unexpected expletives as a result.

“Lana?”

“Ow&#33;”

“Lana, are you okay?”

“I’m, look, just give me a moment Lex. I dropped a drink on myself.”

“Ah, okay.”

Lana stood, putting the phone down on the coffee table before her and carried the dirty cup through to the kitchen. After wiping herself down with a dish cloth and staring ruefully at the chocolate coloured stain now adorning her lilac jumper. “Not good,” she muttered and wandered back through to the sitting room where she found Lex still waiting on the other end of the line for her to return.

“Are you alright now?” he asked when he heard her pick up the phone.

“A lot. You made me jump out of my skin; I wasn’t expecting you to answer Chloe’s cell.”

“She’s in the shower and the ringing was beginning to irritate me. You’d think she’d have to switch to voicemail so as to not miss anyone but oh no, not Chloe.”

“She stayed at yours last night then?” Lana asked, biting her lip as little as she did so and feeling a flutter of excitement run through her system. She hadn’t meant that Lex would move quite so quickly, especially seeing as Chloe had seemed less than impressed with the idea of being set up on a date with him when they had talked before. But if he had moved quickly then that meant she would have something even more exciting to talk about with Chloe and more than a few questions about Lex which she would never have found the answer to otherwise.

“Yes she stayed here,” Lex answered at the other end of the phone. In the background there was the sound of a door opening and then someone said in a slightly muffled voice ‘did I hear my phone?’ “She’s here now,” Lex said. “I’ll just hand you over.”

There were some more muffled voices and then Chloe’s voice came down the line. “Lana?”

“Hi.”

“Hi, sorry I didn’t pick up sooner. I was in the shower.”

“I know, Lex told me.” A grin slipped onto Lana’s features she found herself thankful that Chloe could not see. “How come Lex answered your phone anyway?”

“He must have heard it ringing in my bag.”

“And why exactly would he hear it ringing in you bag?” Lana teased.

“Because it was in his bedroom,” Chloe said then winced as Lana squealed down the telephone at her and then immediately began a high chuckling burst of laughter. “What exactly are you getting at?” she heard Chloe ask the moment that the laughing had died down a bit.

“You stayed at Lex’s last night&#33;” Lana exclaimed. “How can you even think to ask what I’m getting at when you know very well already?”

“I normally try to be a little more articulate but… huh?”

Lana rolled her eyes. “You stayed at Lex’s last night,” she hinted. “And you’re in his bedroom and you had to take a shower…”

“Oh god&#33;” Chloe gasped. “You don’t think… nothing happened&#33;” she added. “At first I thought it might have done but then I cleared it up and found out we didn’t.”

“Well that’s not right,” Lana said with a pout, only realising after the fact that she had actually spoken the words aloud.

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing…” she said. “Well what I actually meant was that it’s not right you spend the night at Lex Luthor’s and not get a little action at least.”

There was a ruffled noise and then Chloe said, “I think you’ve been hanging around with Pete too long – you never used to be so obsessed with sex.”

“That’s beside the point,” Lana said. “The fact is that I’m disappointed with Lex. Did he at least make a move?”

“He seemed perfectly content not to,” Chloe protested. “Now can we drop the subject?”

“If we must,” Lana said with a reluctant sigh. “Now, what are you up to for the rest of the day?”

“I don’t know. Lex suggested that we might hang around together for a while at the mansion but after your little talk I’m not sure it’s such a good idea. You’ve got me thinking he’s going to try and jump me at every other moment.”

“Ignore me,” Lana said quickly. “I just have to live vicariously through my single friends. You go ahead and have a nice day.”

“Okay I will. You too.”

“I’ll catch up with you later,” Lana said then added quickly before putting the phone down, “You can fill me in on the details later.”

[Clannadlvr]

Hee hee hee...Lana is SO bad at keeping a secret&#33;

more soon, please&#33;

[hfce]

Nice update :D


Hope :chlexsign2:

[ghostwriter]

*resists*... nope it&#39;s not going to work... hee hee hee hee hee :biggrin:

That was funny *g* but i hope chloe gets some action before she catches on to lanas plan ;)

Post soon?

[asharnanae]

:biggrin: this is just mind blowingly good. I think my fave bit was when Lex was on his knee&#39;s thanking the lord&#33;&#33;&#33; Oh , just sooooo good, but now you have me bounceing incesantly for more&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33; :worship2: :yay: :worship2:

[gina]

Great update&#33; Hehe, Lana doesn&#39;t understand the concept of subtlety, does she?

Can&#39;t wait for more&#33; :)

[TheDragonLady]

I want more... Please...

[autumngold]

Oh no, Lana&#39;s going to blow it&#33;&#33; Hopefully she will be able to keep quiet, at least until Lex and Chloe get together&#33;&#33; This story is so fun&#33;&#33; I can&#39;t wait for Lex to show Chloe what she&#39;s been missing&#33;&#33; :biggrin: Please post more soon&#33;&#33; :chlexsign4:

[Impress]

more. more. more.

[celticangel]

I love how sweet Lex was when they woke up. Can&#39;t wait for the next part, update soon&#33;&#33; :yay: :yay:

[Béatrice]

Nice update&#33; :biggrin: I hope Chloe and Lex will be closer.

Please upadate soon &#39;cause I want more. :yay:

[HumbugGirl]

12.

Watching Chloe snap her cellphone shut and push it back into her bag Lex found himself raising his eyebrows at her. “I suggested you spend the day here did I?” he asked as she turned to face him. Inadvertently his eyes dipped down and he saw her struggling to keep the deep red towel she had been holding around herself in place; the outline of her body easy to see beneath the clinging piece of material. The first smatterings of a blush began to appear just above where the towel covered her breasts but Chloe being Chloe quickly recovered and moved so he could no longer see it.

“I didn’t realise you were still in the room,” she said, irritating glowing beneath her words.

“I had just poked my head around the door when you finished your conversation. I’m still intrigued about what made you lie to Lana though?”

“She was nagging me about something,” the blonde replied offhandedly. She bobbed down for a second, disappearing from Lex’s eye line to behind the bed. When she appeared a moment later she was holding the outfit she had been wearing the previously evening and staring at it critically. “This just won’t do,” she muttered.

“What happened?” Lex asked stepping around the bed. Taking the top from Chloe he frowned at the stain on it, realising that they must not have been as careful at catching all of the vomit the night before as he had imagined that they were.

“The skirt’s still good though,” Chloe told him.

“I think there may be something to substitute the top with somewhere in one of the guest bedrooms,” Lex said only to become aware that an uncomfortable silence appeared to have settled between them. Glancing upwards from his investigation of the top he saw that Chloe was staring at him coolly.

“And just why, may I ask, would you have piles of women’s clothes just lying around the castle?”

Her tone was stuck somewhere between disapproving and teasing and for once in his life Lex found himself without a simple answer. He had the grace to manage to look a little embarrassed before handing her back her top and backing away from her to stand by the fireplace. “If you don’t already know the answer to that question then you don’t want to know it.”

Chloe sighed loud enough for him to hear it from where he was standing. “Just point me in the direction of these clothes you’re talking about.”

“I can do better than that,” he said. “I can lead you straight to them.”

The look in Chloe’s eyes was still dubious but she tightened the towel around herself and said, “Lead on.”

He smiled at her, taking in the look of stubborn determination which had returned to her eyes since the shower he had taken and it was refreshing for him to discover that she was confident enough to herself to put aside whatever embarrassment she had felt the night before. A lot of the women he had woken up next to over the years would either had pretended nothing had ever happened or sat crying half the day while he tried to convince them they should go home though. His reaction to Chloe’s own decision to stay even though he had not asked her was surprising enough on its own and oddly pleasing. Whereas under other circumstances with other women he might have been irritated there was something about her confident defiance which encouraged him and interested him while making him more than ready to give in to her decision; if she wanted to stay the rest of the day with him then he wasn’t going to throw her out of the house.

Chloe looked at him, raising her eyebrows as if daring him to say anything but Lex just shook his head and walked to the door. “After you,” he said holding it open for her and a moment later the small blonde woman ducked underneath his arm and out into the considerably cooler corridor of the mansion. “I could always put my arm around you,” he offered teasingly when he saw her shiver.

She turned immediately and began to walk away from him, the action making Lex stop and catch his breath as he watched the sway of her hips and the way her rapidly drying hair formed small curls at the base of her neck. When he didn’t make a move to follow her Chloe stopped and looked over her shoulder at him in an action which while probably not meant to be seductive but managed to be anyway. “Are you coming or not?”

“How do you even know you’re walking in the right direction?”

There was a moment of hesitation on her features. “But it is this way right?”

Lex paused just long enough to make her worry then said, “Second door on your right.”

She shook her head a little in what looked light an effort to rid herself of the amused expression on her features. A few more steps and she was heading though one of the rich wooden doors and out of sight. Lex went after her and stood in doorway, leaning against the frame and watching as she went to the wardrobe. Pulling open the door she frowned at the empty space and moved onto the next, opening it to reveal an array of mismatched clothes. He could practically see her wrinkling her nose in disgust as she pawed through the items, mentally sorting them until she came across anything that would be even remotely suitable. Occasionally she could pull one out, look at it critically and then pushed it back in.

“What’s wrong with that one?” Lex asked as she moved to put a white shirt he knew for a fact had a rather revealing neckline back inside the wardrobe.

“The white one?” When he nodded she added, “It would have been kind of tight across…” She gestured a littler nervously with one hand to her bust and Lex nodded understandingly if a little disappointed. She rolled her eyes at the evidence of his disappointment. “You’re starting to act like a leach Lex.”

“You said that last night as well,” he observed with more than an ounce of worry.

“Nice to know I still have my wits when I’m drunk.” She looked back at the wardrobe, her eyes lighting on something. Reaching forwards she pulled out a black button up shirt, unusual in that it had delicate embroidery down the front. Lex found himself a little surprised by her choice, half expecting her to try as hard as she could to mismatch the outfit in what had been her way as a teenager.

“Oh god we’re colour coordinated,” she said on emerging from his bedroom a half hour later. She smoothed down the material of her skirt even as she looked at his outfit of lilac shirt and black pants. “Could you go change?”

“You could go change,” he countered. “There’s still a white shirt in there with your name on it…”

“Not going to happen.”

“You’re surprisingly stubborn,” he laughed. “Even more so than I remembered.”

“You’re not going to get changed are you?” she asked.

“Nope.”

“This isn’t a contest of wills,” Chloe pointed out.

“Then change you shirt,” Lex suggested and received a withering look for his trouble.

“I think not,” she responded.

“Then I guess we’re stuck like this. Now I don’t know about you but I’m planning on getting some breakfast.”

Chloe visibly paled at the mention of food. She garnered little sympathy from Lex however who with a kind of wicked delight began discussing exactly just what the chef would have prepared for breakfast while actually occupied with the fact that Chloe was wandering along beside him looking fresh faced and tempting – if a little grey about the gills so to speak.

“Just… just shut up,” Chloe said as they emerged into the breakfast room. “Seriously Lex unless you want to find yourself having to call someone to clear up a rather disgusting mess from the carpet I would shut up.” She stopped short of the table, looking at it warily so Lex stepped around her and pulled out the chair behind the second place setting.

“You should eat something; it’ll settle your stomach,” Lex said as she slipped into the chair before him, her shoulder brushing against his hand for a moment.

“You tell that to my stomach and not to me – I’m hungry, it’s the rest of me that’s protesting against the idea.”

He settled onto the chair adjacent to hers, his eyes flickering over her stomach for a moment before finding her face. “Tell you stomach that it’s an idiot then,” he said.

She very nearly spluttered out a reply and then she stopped and seemed to catch hold of herself. “Could you pour me some coffee please?”

“I thought you cut back?”

“Oh that doesn’t include my morning cup, my morning cup is the secret to keeping me the happy smiley person I appear to be the rest of the day.”

With a grin he reached for the coffee pot and quickly filled her cup, pushing sugar and cream towards her when he finished with the dark liquid. Chloe laughed quietly even as she immediately reached for cup and swallowed a large mouthful. “Hmm perfect.”

“I’m glad to see you approve.”

“Well if I remember rightly you always did manage to get the coffee right.” Lex raised his eyebrows in a silent question even as he dug into the grapefruit that had been left for him – the same grapefruit that Chloe had been eyeing carefully only a few moments before. “At out many failed attempts at interviews,” she clarified.

“Well I’d offer you one now but I think your readers might have reason to question your journalistic integrity when they read whatever the result might be.” It was Chloe’s turn to raise an eyebrow. “Well you did spend the night with me last night,” he pointed out with a teasing grin.

“No, I didn’t. We’ve already cleared that up.”

“But who would believe you?”

She took a moment to simply look at him rolling the thought over in her mind. “You might have a point,” she admitted. “Which doesn’t say much for your reputation or mine.”

Deciding to abandon whatever was left of the grape fruit and opt for something a little more substantial Lex leaned back on his seat and asked, “And why would that be exactly?”

“Well Lex, everyone knows that your reputation is less that flawless…”

“I wasn’t referring to my own – I know what people think of me. I was talking about why *your* reputation might be in doubt.”

“You really don’t pay a lot of attention to the gossip columns do you?” she asked in what appeared to be a state of wonder. Shaking her head when he continued to look at her blankly she added, “You really should you know; some of the things they say are really comical and you could do with a good laugh now again to stop from looking so serious – it’d be good for your public image.”

“I get the feeling you’re veering away from the point.”

“Maybe a little,” was the evasive answer.

“Care to go back to it?”

“You’re not really interested are you?”

“Chloe,” he warned.

“Okay, okay… you must have heard about my disastrous relationship with Caleb Newson though? I mean that one even made it out of the gossip pages.”

Lex frowned a little. Now that she mentioned it he did remember reading something about it when he was in Gotham one time on business but he couldn’t remember what exactly and he wasn’t going to admit it to her face when he was gaining almost as much pleasure out of watching her squirm as she had the night before when he had fallen over. Shaking his head he said, “Sorry. What happened?”

“Are you sure?” she asked looking increasingly uncomfortable.

“Positive although you’ve sparked my interest now.”

Directly her eyes firmly at the bottom of her coffee cup she mumbled, “He was a sociopath hell bent on destroying Gotham.”

Ah yes, now he remembered. It was all Lex could do not to let his mouth drop open in shock as he wondered how he could have ever forgotten about the particular Caleb Newson she had mentioned; the man had after all been nearly responsible for killing Bruce Wayne.

“You remember now then?” she asked and Lex realised his thoughts must have shown on his features.

Cooling his expression he said calmly, “I remember reading something about a man by that name attacking Bruce Wayne.”

She shook her head a little. “Yeah, I just happened to be there at the time. Bruce had given me an interview and Caleb decided he didn’t like the idea very much.”

“And that was how you became such firm *friends* with Wayne,” he observed and Chloe stopped halfway through raising her cup to her mouth.

“I thought you didn’t read the gossip pages.”

“You thought I wouldn’t keep an eye on my old friend Wayne?”

Chloe snorted laughter. “You and Bruce are and always have been about as friendly as I am with… with… with Lois.”

“Lois?” he asked.

“Lois Lane.”

“You know Lois Lane?”

“She’s my cousin and we have a mutual healthy enjoyment of competitiveness – especially with each other.”

“Ah,” he said thinking of the tall brunette woman in Metropolis and wondering how it was possible that the small blonde sat at the table with him could be related to her. It was a little unsettling to know that Chloe would compare herself with her considering what he knew of the other reporter at the Planet. “I suppose that explain why you didn’t end up at the Daily Planet.”

Chloe rolled her eyes. “Better not to go into that I think. Anyway, you never explained why you knew I was friends with Bruce.”

He hesitated for a moment, no doubt letting onto Chloe more than he had meant to with that one action alone. “We went to school together,” he said hoping that would be enough. The look on the blonde reporter’s face clearly said it was not however and he found himself saying, “Healthy competitiveness?”

“I would have gone for that if I hadn’t just used it myself.”

Looking at her he decided that perhaps honestly was his bets bet for that survival and said, “Wayne is one of my main obstacles in nine out of ten business deals. I always keep an eye on what he’s doing…”

“And who he’s doing?” Chloe asked with a surprisingly straight and innocent expression.

It was all Lex could do to keep a frown from him face once again. He knew for a fact that Chloe and Wayne weren’t sleeping together but it was interesting that she apparently found the idea of goading him by saying that they were appealing. It suggested to him something which was hope inspiring to say the least; apparently Chloe did mind what he thought she was up to.

“I wasn’t going to say that,” he told her.

“But you were thinking it.”

“I wasn’t going to say that either. The fact that one of Gotham’s leading reporters happened to be involved with him for a time was merely interesting to me because of our business connection.”

She looked as if she did not believe him and if he were honest with himself Lex did not mind the fact either. It would make it a little harder if she were suspicious of her motives but at least he knew that she was prepared to talk to him about her personal life and more than that she was prepared to talk to him about Wayne. That was something positive at least.

[Clannadlvr]

Ohh...nice character development. Love how Lex is starting to develop feelings for Chloe beyond his little deal to get her in bed.

Oh, and Chloe?



“This isn’t a contest of wills,” Chloe pointed out.

*rolls eyes* Chloe, it will ALWAYS be a contest of wills between you and Lex. That&#39;s what makes the Chlex so much fun&#33;&#33;&#33;

more soon, please&#33;

[asharnanae]

:biggrin: fantastico&#33; :worship2:

[TheDragonLady]

The Dragon likes it, and the Dragon is always right.

The Dragon also thinks Clunk should just up and admit that he is an alien. He sho&#39;ll don&#39;t give his friends any credit.

The Dragon isn&#39;t me, by the way. The Dragon is my invisible friend. And the Dragon loves Chlex.

BRING US THE CHLEX&#33;

[hfce]

More please....


Hope...... :cool:

[hickchick]

wow&#33; that&#39;s like the third update this week, thankyou for updating so soon.

and this ch is awesome, as usual&#33;

i can&#39;t wait to read more&#33; :)

[tigroon]

Many thanks for the fast update HumbugGirl. I&#39;m very eager to know
what happens next ...

[LarkLuthor]

How did I miss the update before this? I guess I thought everyone was begging for updates. Great job updating regularly&#33; They were wonderful&#33; :drool:

Lark

[Lex]

:yay: Great couple of updates&#33; Lana really does suck at keeping secrets, doesn&#39;t she? Lol&#33; Anyway I loved the last chapter it was nice to see chloe and Lex warming up to each other still I wonder if Chloe will remember Lex&#39;s little accident from the night before...? Hope you update soon&#33; ;)

[Béatrice]

:biggrin: Nice chapter&#33;

More please&#33;&#33;&#33; :yay:

[sara_noele]

Two updates&#33; Two great updates&#33; God, I love you&#33;

[tiff]

yes chloe...spend the rest of the day with him, in fact, how bout the rest of your life? wth him? in his bedroom? just kidding, kindamaybesortanot...

thanks for the updates and more soon please?

[HumbugGirl]

13.

When breakfast was over Lex suggested they take a walk around the grounds, claiming the fresh air would do her some good and although Chloe knew he was probably right she was loath the admit the fact to him. There was something discomforting about the idea of going out into the cold voluntarily even if it would make her feel better. She did however gratefully receive the offer of a clean jacket that he gave her and wrapped herself up warmly inside the oversized coat presented to her, tucking her hands in the sleeves before putting them in deep pockets to protect them against the cool air outside. Hands shoved in the pockets she looked up and turned around a little as she heard a chuckle from behind her only to find herself looking at Lex.

“Oh you’re one to talk,” she said. “Have you any idea how silly it looks for a bald man to get dressed up in winter clothing in this weather without a hat? It sort of defeats the purpose.”

“I don’t suit hats,” Lex said with a small shrug of his shoulders.

Chloe shook her head. “Really? I would have thought a bobble hat would have looked wonderful with that ensemble.”

“If I thought you were being serious then I would think you were mad.”

“Then you just called me mad,” Chloe answered and turned away with a grin on her features, tugging the coat she was wearing tighter about her and reaching for the door handle to escape from the mansion. Stepping outside she felt the cool late autumnal-like air hit her face, shivered a little and moved down onto the gravel of the drive and listening to it crunch beneath her feet. There was the distinct impression in the air that perhaps soon, very soon in fact it was going to grow considerably colder.

Stood in the middle of the drive she waited until she could hear Lex moving up to stand next to her, mirroring her action by pushing his hands into the pocket of the coat he was wearing. With a rumpled air about his voice the billionaire said, “It’s not that cold.”

Shooting an amused look back over her shoulder Chloe held out her arm for him to take. “Come on, show me around the place then.”

Lex chuckled, taking her arm and said, “I was thinking of letting you show me the way actually.”

“Well I could but I think we’d end up getting lost.”

“Oh I don’t know, not with the amount of time you used to spend sneaking around here when you were younger.”

Chloe’s eyes widened at the slightly teasing tone to his voice. “I don’t know what you could possible mean,” she said evasively.

“You thought I didn’t know? The security isn’t *that* bad around here.”

“Are you saying that you *let* me sneak around?” Lex shrugged his reply, the movement slipping through him and into her. Chloe bristled. “I’m not sure I like that idea – it implies you didn’t really think all that much of journalistic capabilities.”

“On the contrary,” Lex said. “I used to enjoy watching them develop.”

Once again she looked out at him out of the corner of her eye wondering what was going on behind the stoic blue orbs that looked back at her. “I’m also not sure I like it when you flatter me,” she said carefully.

“Oh?”

“It makes me nervous.” The look he gave her was one clearly expected further explanation. “I’ve not been away from Smallville that I don’t remember how charming you can be… or how dangerous when you want to be.”

Lex frowned, the action entirely involuntary or it would never have happened. “Charming I can accept… but dangerous?”

The blonde laughed. “I’m not stupid. You’re Lex Luthor and despite the fact that most of the world seems to think you’re a saint nowadays we both know you’re not, or perhaps rather that you don’t have to be all the time. Take the last couple of hours for example; we’ve both been messing around, sounding each other out but when you come down to it there is something you’re interested in to do with me and I want to know what that is.”

“Maybe it’s just you I’m interested in,” he answered and gave her arm a light squeeze as he did so.

The eyes she turned on him were almost disbelieving. “That I get – I’m just not sure in what capacity you’re interested.”

He stopped abruptly, surprising Chloe and leaving her taking a step past him. The sensation of his hand on her arm stopped her from going any further though and swung her around so that she was looking at him. It occurred to her that he seemed especially tall, his face serious, his stature everything that she might have expected from someone coming from the social, political and financial elite that he belonged to. There was something oddly similar to the way Bruce often stood in his stance and it shook her for a moment as she realised that whatever Lex was going to say next he was actually serious about it and not messing her around like she might have supposed.

“Trust me when I say that my interest in you has nothing to do with business right at this moment.” The instance the words were out of his mouth he took a step forwards, closing the small distance between them so Chloe could feel the brush of his cost against hers and even some of the warmth that emanated from him through the material.

She knew what was going happen and the blonde found herself at first unable to do anything, even the smallest little thing, to stop it. Lex leaned down, his lips drifting closer to hers until the point that they were barely a hair’s breadth apart and Chloe found herself again, pulling away just a little and saying in a voice that was entirely too breathy for her liking, “What are you doing?”

“I would have thought that was obvious.” He leaned a little closer again.

“Okay, why are you doing it?”

Lex paused, his eyes loosing the slightly hooded quality they had possessed as he had moved to kiss her. “Do you have to make questions out of everything?”

“It’s a habit I have,” she said with a slight shrug.

“But doesn’t it get in the way?”

“If it does then the thing it’s getting in the way of isn’t worth pursuing.”

He nodded a little, understandingly; something which surprised her more than she cared to admit. “I just wanted to kiss you, to find out what it’s like,” he said, his words measured. They were sincere however and as such they were comforting to her and Chloe let her head fall slightly to one side.

“That sounds like a valid reason.”

The corner of his lips curled into a slight smile even as he brought one hand up to cup the side of her face and leaned down once again to press his lips against hers.

She wasn’t one to deny the shear magnetic sexuality that Lex Luthor possessed; she never had been and she never would be. Even when she was still a teenager in high school and time and time again she had been thrown into his company no matter how formal or business-like the situation might have been there had been something about him that most people would have admitted had been powerfully attractive and over the years, as he had grown and as she had grown it had only been magnified; a fact that could be seen on every television channel, radio station, most magazines and more than a few internet sites dedicated to him that seemed to spring up often enough. Still, as she found herself standing in the arms of one of the most eligible bachelors in the world it dawned on Chloe that she had never admitted to herself up until that point just *how* attractive Lex could be.

The kiss was soft, not too pressing but with just enough force that she couldn’t deny the fact that it was happening and that she was enjoying it. With a shuddering breath she broke it, brining her hand up to rest just below his shoulders in an action that only seemed to bring them closer together. Swallowing, licking her lips Chloe asked, “Find out anything interesting?”

“Lots of things,” Lex answered, placing his forehead against her. “Lots of very interesting things.”

“What to let me in on them?”

“I think… not. They’re all mine now.”

Chloe smiled in spite of herself. She wanted to come up with something snarky to say, something to take the edge off the moment that they seemed to be stuck in but for once her wit failed her. Lex seemed to sense she was disarmed and like the predator he could be he leaned down to put his lips to hers once again, pressing with a little more urgency this time and encouraging Chloe to respond. She did so, pulling herself up his body even as his arms slipped down, moving to enclose her body, and pulled her tight against him. She felt him dig his fingers into her back and abruptly realised that the last thing he wanted at that moment was the thickness of her coat between them, the realisation making her heart flutter madly in her chest. She pressed harder on his chest and after a few seconds parted them, leaving them both panting and desiring more but on her part knowing that she shouldn’t give in.

For his part Lex looked a little perturbed but quickly pulled himself together, stepping away from her but keeping his hands on her sides.

“Now might be a good time for me to go,” she said softly.

“If you must,” Lex replied, his voice appreciatively forlorn. Rolling his shoulder back he asked, “How long are you in town for?”

“I’m not sure… I was only meant to be visiting for a couple of days…” she stopped short, catching herself and not wanting to give away what she had been about to say, that now she was almost certain that she was going to extend the stay; if only to find out what the hell seemed to be happening between them and why.

“Then I might see you tomorrow?”

She looked up at him, meeting his eyes and nodded.

[scifichick774]

*dances*

Love that you&#39;re updating this one so frequently now. The chemistry between them was just amazing in this chapter. Hopefully we&#39;ll see some of Lex&#39;s thoughts on the subject in the next installment. :)

[asharnanae]

:biggrin: aghhh, sooooo close&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33; :worship2: :worship2: great stuff&#33;

[Clannadlvr]

Amazing chemistry between these two...the fact that Chloe is being very cautious and Lex surprised by the connection between them is very much in character.

Great job, and I can&#39;t wait to read more&#33;

[Sab_Luthor]

wow that was very great
i loved the way you wrote this scene
more please

[MissMed03]

KISSY FACE&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33; I&#39;m so excited.... can&#39;t wait for the next update&#33;

[hfce]

More please...

[hickchick]

awwwwwwwww&#33; that was so sweet&#33;

Chloe and Lex kissed&#33; yay&#33;

this fic is so good, i can&#39;t wait to read more&#33; :)

[tiff]

*uses jedi mind-trick* you will update this story, lex and chloe will do something nc-17 worthy soon. right? damn, i suck at this, the force isn&#39;t with me...

[LarkLuthor]

Originally posted by typicaltiff@Apr 23 2004, 04:55 AM
*uses jedi mind-trick* you will update this story, lex and chloe will do something nc-17 worthy soon. right? damn, i suck at this, the force isn&#39;t with me...
Really? I was hoping it was working and I could make you do that for all the really great fics that need updating. :tongue: Great update&#33; You must update soon&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33; PLEASE&#33;

The Lark

[Béatrice]

:wub: Awww that was so cute.

I hope you&#39;ll update soon. Please.

[ColumbiaBlue]

Awww, that was so perfect&#33; I could see that actually happening on the show. Say, why don&#39;t you go write for Smallville?

More soon?&#33; Please?&#33;

~Manda :blinkkiss:

[Lex]

Great chapter&#33; They kissed&#33; Yay&#33; Still I wonder if Lex will tell her about that deal he made... I look forward to more&#33;

[autumngold]

You added smoochies&#33;&#33; :biggrin: Thank you, thank you, thank you&#33;&#33; I like how it&#39;s gone beyond a favor that Lex is doing for his friends to something he wants himself&#33;&#33; Thanks for the updates&#33;&#33; Can&#39;t wait for your new chapter&#33;&#33; Will there be more Chlex in the next chapter? :chlexsign2:

[gina]

Yay, they kissed&#33;

Thanks for the wonderful update&#33; Can&#39;t wait for more&#33; :)

[sara_noele]

A kiss, a kiss&#33; I can&#39;t believe it. Finally&#33; :yay:

Liked Lexs words, that kissing was what he wanted to do without any hidden thoughts. Very honest.

Please update soon.

[HumbugGirl]

14.

Against his better judgement Chloe had insisted on calling a cab from the mansion even though he had offered her the use of one of his cars and a driver to ensure that she reached home safely. Even on reminding her that she was in Smallville however the blonde woman had given a shake of her head that was both charming and exasperating and gone ahead with her plan, a plan that left him wanting to quickly call one of his security detail up and order them to follow her to make sure she was as okay as she claimed she would be. Watching the cab pull away he pushed his hands into the pockets of his coat and tried to force some of the tension he was feeling from his body only to fail miserably.

She had very nearly reached the end of the driveway before he could draw himself together enough to turn around and step back inside the mansion. Lex handed his coat to the waiting butler, barely acknowledging the other man’s presence as uncomfortable thoughts preoccupied his mind and sent him in the direction of the welcoming sanctuary of his office. Once inside however Lex found himself still unable to relax. He paced the room, moving from the couch to the pool table to his desk and back again. He walked over to the drinks cabinet and thought about pouring himself a scotch before remembering abruptly that barely half the day had passed so far. Putting down the glass he placed both hands on the surface of the cabinet and closed his eyes for a moment while trying to gain some measure of control.

“Okay, I have to know,” a voice sounded, slicing through the comparative silence. “Just who has managed to get my great untouchable brother in such a state?”

“Lucas,” the billionaire managed. Pushing himself into a standing position he turned slowly to look at the other man only to find him stood in the doorway dressed in his usual patented black leather and jeans. Lex fought the urge to shake his head, the younger Luthor never changed – something he was becoming quite notorious ever since the truth about his birthright became known to the world. Whereas in the past it had always been Lex who had been considered the wild child the press tended to believe that it was now Lucas who held the crown and he was giving no sign of giving it up.

Smiling, Lex added, “I didn’t know you were back from Monte Carlo yet.”

“Technically I’m not,” the younger said with a conspiratorial gleam in his eyes. “There were a couple of problems so I thought I’d get out of there as soon as I could and here I am.”

“Anything I need to worry about?” Lex asked, successfully managing to avoid the urge to wince at the thought that Lucas had created another scandal.

Lucas laughed and shook his head. “Nothing to worry about. I doubt the young lady in question will be saying anything any time soon.” He stepped forwards closing the door to the office behind him and added, “You still haven’t answered my question though… and I’m guessing it’s got something to do with the woman I saw you groping outside earlier.”

Looking at him sharply Lex asked, “Just how long have you been here?”

“Long enough. Now answer the question.”

Those words from any other man would have seemed ridiculous, they would have made Lex smirk and shake his head before turning away and pointedly ignoring the question set to him. From Lucas however the question was almost acceptable and with only a twinge of reluctance he said, “That was Chloe Sullivan.”

Lucas glanced towards the window, out into the garden as if he might spy her there. “No… Chloe Sullivan? Here? I thought she only haunted Gotham nowadays?”

Raising his eyebrows in surprise Lex said, “You know Chloe?”

“I know of her,” Lucas said with a smirk. “For a while you couldn’t avoid pictures of her and Wayne in the society pages.”

Eyes focused on the smirk Lex found himself only moments away from scowling at the knowing look that seemed to pass over his brother’s face. He was not entirely certain that he wanted to know what it was his brother knew that he did not… or perhaps it had more to do with the fact that he did not want to know what Lucas was thinking. The problem was that he could not convince himself of the fact and he found himself asking, “Just what is running through your mind?”

Lucas shrugged, throwing himself down on the couch and putting his feet up on the table before him. “Nothing that hasn’t run through yours already from what I saw outside.” The cheeky little grin that he offered on the end unsettled Lex slightly and he shifted, moving closer to the couch as he did so.

“Lucas…”

Grinning, the young Luthor held his hands up. “Relax. I’m not going to go running after her. I know how you hate the competition.”

“It’s not that…” Lex began and then realised his brother was kidding. Unfortunately for the younger Luthor, Lex no longer was and in as calm a manner as he could maintain while remaining friendly he said, “It just wouldn’t be a good idea for you to decide to go after her.”

Lucas raised an eyebrow. “Business?” he asked understandingly.

“Business,” Lex agreed.

Lucas tapped his fingers on the arm of the couch. “I’ll leave well alone then.”

Lex peered at him, suspicion flickering constantly behind his eyes but there was nothing about Lucas’ posture to warn him that his brother planned to do any differently from what he said he would do. Still, he would have to ensure that was actually the case – Lucas, like all Luthors, was rather good at hiding his true intentions. “Are you going to stay around?”

He shrugged in reply. “Maybe for a few days. I didn’t have anything else planned.”

“Then perhaps you would be good enough to do something for me during your say.”

It became apparent that it took a great effort on the part of Lucas not to roll his eyes at the idea of what would probably turn out to be work. “What?” he asked, unwilling to commit himself to anything before finding out what it would entail.

“The business we were talking about… I want it to run as smoothly as possible but that might not happen if-“

“Clark and Pete.”

“In a word: yes.”

“You do remember what happened last time you asked me to occupy those two don’t you?” It was said in an incredulous voice while Lucas looked at him as if she might have lost some of the massive intelligence he was reputed to have.

“I’m sure I can trust you not to get into a fight with them this time,” Lex answered wryly. “And if you can’t then make sure it’s not so serious as to give them cause to come pestering me.”

Lucas grinned at him broadly. “I think I can manage that.”

I bet you can, Lex thought then turned his back on his brother in a clear indication that the conversation was over and they should both go in their separate directions. Lucas took the hint and with only a brief goodbye he left the room again.

When he heard the door Lex turned around and let out a breath he had been holding in. The last thing he had wanted to do was involve Lucas more in matters in Smallville than he already was but at least he knew that while he was doing as his older brother had requested then there was little chance that he would be meddling in matters that Lex wanted him involved in even less. If Lucas managed to mess up matters with Chloe then at least it might be salvageable and even if it was not then there would be few long term consequences. If he interfered in some of Lex’s other matters in the small town however then there was every chance that they might end up being irreparable.

As a precaution however he reached inside his jacket pocket and pulled out his cell phone; there would be little harm in calling Clark and warning the reporter that he had sent Lucas in his direction. If Clark knew that he was trying to keep Lucas out of the way then perhaps he would cooperate and help him out a little without taking offence at some of Lucas’ antics.

That unusual phone call done with Lex dialled in a second number to his personal assistant, Max. “I want the Wayne files,” he said calmly and listened to the pause on the other end of the line.

“All of them?”

“Yes.”

“But sir…”

“That’s a large amount of paperwork I know. I still want it - specifically the files pertaining to the Sullivan/Wayne dealings.”

After a thoughtful pause Max said, “I can have them to the mansion by mid-afternoon.”

“Good,” Lex replied and disconnected the call. It couldn’t hurt to do a little more research on the situation between Chloe and Wayne in order to see what he was up against.

* * * *

Her first instinct had been to go running around to Lana and Pete, the urge to tell Lana what had happened filling her almost like she was a teenager again. On a second thought she changed her mind however and headed back to her father’s place. No doubt considering all the strange things that still went on in Smallville from all reports he was concerned about her not showing up at home the night before and she would have to make some explanations to him that might be uncomfortable. Chloe wrinkled her brow, actually she might not mention the fact that she had stayed at Lex’s. Her father might not object to Lex as a friend or a boss but Chloe had no doubt that he would have problems with the idea of his only daughter staying over at the mansion of such a notorious ladies man.

Slipping inside the house quietly Chloe made her towards the stairs, aiming to be up them, into her room and changed before her father even realised that she was home. It was foolish of course, it wasn’t like she was sixteen and sneaking in after she had been out all night even though she shouldn’t have been or even that she had any real reason for not being noticed until after she had managed to get changed. Still Chloe headed in that direction and when she was caught halfway up by her father saying, “Ah you’re back then,” she stopped suddenly mid-step and had to compose herself carefully before she could turn around and look down at him as he stood at the bottom of the steps.

“Hey Dad.”

“Did you have a nice time?”

Chloe peered at the man carefully, trying to decide whether he was simply asking her a question or whether there was something else in his voice that should warn her. “Sure it was fun,” Chloe said even as an image of Lex from the evening before appeared her in her mind and she found herself smiling.

“Did you stay over at Lana’s?” He asked the question so innocently that Chloe felt in instant pang of guilt and she shook her head uncertainly.

“Lex’s,” she answered quietly and when her father looked at her for confirmation she repeated the name a little louder.

Gabe nodded slowly, as if trying to digest what she had told him and putting Chloe on tender hooks as he did so. Silently she kicked herself, reminding herself as she did so that she was a full grown woman and that her father should remember that as well. That did not offer her much consolation as she waited for him to say something else but eventually Gabe turned away and walked back into the house, disappearing from sight and leaving Chloe to go the rest of the way up the stairs in her room undisturbed.

Stepping inside her room and closing the door behind her Chloe walked to her bed and fell backwards on it. For a second she closed her eyes and the instant she did the memory of Lex kissing her rushed back and sent a flush over her cheeks. It wasn’t like she had a right to be excited really; Lex was probably just seeing how far he could push her, playing a game with her that she should really have put a stop to already but the thought that perhaps he wasn’t was too strong to ignore. Lex was less that perfect, she knew that was a certainty since having hung around Bruce far too long to not realise what the Luthor billionaire was like. But as far as she could see there were two very distinct advantages to being around Lex, to letting whatever it was that had happened between them proliferate. The first was that there might be a story in it somewhere that might help counter the name she was getting for herself as a writer who was incapable of producing a story that wasn’t wall of weird material if everything did go wrong between them and secondly that whatever else Lex was he was charming and being around him could make a girl feel damn good about herself.

Smiling Chloe opened her eyes and stared at the string of journalistic awards she had won as a youngster. Whichever ended up being the case she was certain she was going to have fun while they lasted.

[Béatrice]

YAY&#33; An update&#33; :biggrin: Thanks.
I want more soon.

[tiff]

Ooh thank you...an update. And Lucas is here. :biggrin: I&#39;ll be waiting patiently for more.

[Clannadlvr]

Hmm....so now both Chloe and Lex are having legitimate feelings toward each other...but what&#39;s she going to do if she finds out about the deal that started this whole thing off?

Update soon&#33;

[asharnanae]

:biggrin: loved it&#33;&#33; and lucus turning up was great&#33;&#33; more soon as ya can&#33;&#33;&#33; :yay: :worship2:

[Mystykitty]

Ahhhh...its sadness but the first thing I thought of as I read this was Chloe is me...
and then I realized that was ridclious as I don&#39;t have a gorgeous billionaire trying to get in my pants.
<shakes head in disappointment>
So seeing as how you are writing a story about my future <looks up to heaven and prays quickly>, I think you should update quickly and foten so I can see how my future turns out..

Oh and gotta love Lex and obsession :drool: ...especially since his interest is only because he is madly in love with Chloe and he just doesn&#39;t know it.

kitty

[Blackberry]

oh my.... :huh:

hope you update soon&#33; :)

BB

[Impress]

wonderful. need another installment soon.

[TheDragonLady]

The Dragon likes it. A lot. The Dragon wants more... So does The Dragon Lady....

[sara_noele]

Like that you brought Lucas in. :biggrin:

Hope you update soon.

[HumbugGirl]

15.

Raising the cup of tea she had been cradling in her hands for the past twenty minutes Lana peered across the room towards where the new girl, Cassy, was taking an order from some kid who looked like he was probably a member of the football team. She frowned a little as the boy said something which clearly upset the girl serving him and made a mental note to keep an eye him as she remembered that only a couple of days ago Cassy had made a complaint about someone hassling her while she worked. The last thing she wanted was to end up with was yet another reason to call the police out to sort out a problem; it was bad enough when she had to do it with the meteorite freaks that still seemed to think that she would be a suitable target for them to attack. Apparently being an adult and a respectable member of the community did not make her immune to the crazed mutants who called Smallville home.

She sipped the lukewarm liquid and wondered whether she should called Cassy over to get a replacement and ask the girl what the problem had been at the same time. Lana dismissed the idea instantly as she glanced at the clock accidentally and saw how long she had been on her break already. Even though they were overstaffed it didn’t mean that she should set a lax example for the others.

Standing up Lana rounded the table she had been sat at and carried her cup over to counter. “I’ll be with you in a second,” she said to the sole waiting customer without even looking up before quickly walking around the counter to the other side. “What can I get you?” she asked, looking up as she did so and stopping halfway through her sentence. “Lucas,” Lana said, her voice coming out thin and wispy.

“Lana,” he responded, grinning at her and clearly glad that he had managed to shake her.

She steeled herself, reminding herself that she was twenty-eight years old and that she should have got over whatever negative effect Lucas had on her years ago. The problem was saying that and actually proving it to herself was another thing altogether and at that very moment only thing which Lana could think of was that fact that Lucas could be a very creepy man when he wanted to be and he always seemed to want to be that man when he was around her.

Putting a broad smile on her face she said, “I didn’t know you were back in town. How are you?”

“Just peachy,” he said with faux sincerity. “Can I get something to drink?”

“Sure. What do you want?”

“Coffee. Black.”

Lana nodded briefly and stepped away to prepare the order and to steady herself as she did so. He did not give her chance to however, breaking from the norm behaviour of a customer at the counter and saying, “Have you seen Clark around today?”

She glanced over her shoulder at him. “No. Why?” He gave her a wry look which told her she would not be getting an answer any time soon. “There you go,” she said turning back to him and placing a cup down on the countertop for him.

“What about Pete?” he said.

“Pardon?” she asked, slightly stunned and wondering whether she had heard him correctly.

“Any idea where Pete is?”

“Well he should be at work,” Lana said after a brief hesitation as she wondered where else her husband would be at that time of day, an immediate suspicion dawning on her that perhaps Lucas knew something she did not. It would be, she thought, just like him to tease her about it as well.

Lucas did not say anything else however. He offered no explanation of why he had been asking after her husband and Lana did not expect one either if she was completely honest with herself. “Are you going to be in town long?” she asked, trying to keep the hope of her voice that perhaps he was only drifting through.

She must have failed however as he offered her a characteristic Luthor smirk as a reply. “Just let Pete know I’m in town and if he fancies catching up then I’m up for it.”

Lana was just about to open her mouth and tell him that it was doubtful when she stopped short. Clark had appeared through the front door of the coffee shop – evidently looking for someone from the way he searched the room with his eyes. When he looked in their direction his eyes brightened but for the first time Lana realised he wasn’t excited to see her but to see the person she was standing with and what really made the situation strange was that that person was Lucas. The farmboy turned reporter lumbered forwards holding out a hand towards Lucas the moment that he reached them.

“Lucas&#33;” he exclaimed. “I heard you were in town. God it’s good to see you.”

“You did?” Lucas said even as Lana did and then both added quickly, “It is?” in even more surprised tones.

“Sure,” Clark said with a level of sincerity which was very nearly believable. Lana watched in amazement, doe-eyes wide and disbelieving as Clark impulsively shook the other man’s hand once again. “God, it’s been so long. What have you been up to?”

The only consolation Lana had was that Lucas looked as stunned as she was. In truth he looked far more stunned than she was and that was strangely… satisfying. Even before she could stop herself Lana discovered she was grinning broadly, the expression on her face far more foolish than she would have liked it to have been. There was something in her that just didn’t care however at that moment and Lana took the chance to revel in Lucas’ lost expression. It would probably be the only chance she would ever get to after all.

Still, watching Clark rabbit away so easily to the other man when she knew for a fact that he had long since held a dislike for the youngest Luthor was enough to make Lana wonder whether the world had gone mad when she wasn’t watching. Then again, she reminded herself, this was Smallville. Stranger things happened all the time.

* * * *

The hours were beginning to drag, which was strange because Lex had rarely experienced that problem in the past. If anything he normally found that there was not enough time in the day to deal with business and whatever his excuse for a social life was for that particular day never mind time for relaxation. As it was however he was desperately trying to think of something to do which did not involve staring blankly at a wall. The only thing he had managed to come up with so far was staring at the wall blankly and wondering what Chloe was up to.

It really didn’t help that he had spent most of the afternoon reading through file after file on the blonde reporter – several of which had included photographs taken by the private detectives that he occasionally employed to follow Bruce Wayne around and catch up on what his business rival was up to. As it was one particular photograph was sat on the desk before him. It brought back an odd memory, one of absently flicking through the same file several months ago and lingering on the same picture for far too long.

It was of Chloe, a fork in one hand as she prodded at some desert and smiled bashfully at Wayne over the table. The scene was absurdly intimate and although Lex was very nearly certain that there had never and would never be anything going on between them he still felt a stirring of irritation low in his gut. Which was irrational because, as he had reminded himself all too frequently throughout the afternoon, this was a business deal and nothing else.

That didn’t make time pass any quicker though and as he pulled himself out of the reverie for what felt like the hundredth time Lex found himself reaching towards the telephone on his desk. He stopped himself abruptly and smiled as a thought occurred to him. Calling her would not do at all, not yet at least. Chloe was an independent woman and she would no doubt far from appreciate it if he was overzealous in his attentions to her.

Still…

Lex stood up and walked around the desk, putting some distance between him and the telephone before the urge to call her grew too strong to ignore.

This had not been part of the plan. He had not expected Chloe to be quite so… charming. The knowledge that she was left him disquieted and the only time he had not felt that way was when he had actually be around her, talking to her and engaging in the verbal judo that he had enjoyed so long ago.

Lex turned and looked back at the desk, his eyes automatically going to the telephone as he did so.

Fuck it he thought and reached for the handset.


16.

After a mid-afternoon nap to ward off any impending hangover symptoms that had not yet hit Chloe had woke to find the house empty, a note from her father on the fridge telling her that he had headed around to a friend’s place for the day and that she shouldn’t expect him back until late. Chloe had scowled at the thought, wandered around the house a few times and then decided to stop feeling sorry for herself and head out as well. While she may have come back to Smallville to see her father for a while it wasn’t the *only* reason she had come back so she might as well take advantage of the free time to catch up with a few people. The problem with that idea was that, like her, most people she had known had seen sense and got the hell out of Smallville while they still could. Oh there were still a few of her old classmates hanging around but Chloe was always amused to discover they were for the most part members of the ‘popular’ crowd who had never really cared for her company. Now they had mostly taken over their family businesses or were still working for their parents having never really moved on and year after year they were still being picked off by the meteorite freaks that still roamed around the town. The denial that had always affected their parents now affected them as well and Chloe found herself increasingly grateful she had had more sense and escaped before something nasty had happened to her.

Ultimately and perhaps somewhat unfortunately that left her only one solution though and she headed towards Talon where she knew that Lana was sure to be. God Ol’Lana, stuck in one place and she didn’t give a damn. The woman was a symbol of everything that was Smallville – including being the meteorite magnet that she was. It always amazed Chloe that the other woman hadn’t put her survival skills to better use; she could easily have turned into a superhero or something akin to that and Chloe was certain that no one would ever have been able to defeat her. Lana might have Lex’s penchant for getting knocked out and kidnapped but with her it was an art form and the clearest evidence the blonde reporter had ever seen for natural selection at work.

Stepping through the large doors into Talon she was immediately assaulted by the warm air which filled the place. The atmosphere was reassuringly familiar and welcoming as she threaded her way through the crowd to where she could spy Lana stood behind the counter, a confused expression painted on her delicate features as she stared off in one direction. As Chloe approached the counter Lana did not so much as blink leaving the reporter wondering whether there wasn’t something wrong with the other woman and she reached out to touch her friend’s arm.

“Hey, something the matter?”

Lana jumped as those selfsame instincts that Chloe had been thinking about only moments before coming into play as she pulled her arm away and spun to look at Chloe. “What? Oh. No. Nothing. Well not really.” She paused. “Just look over there for a moment and tell me what you’re seeing.”

Chloe turned in the direction that Lana had indicated and frowned. Abruptly it became clear why Lana had looked so confused. It wasn’t every day that you saw not just Clark and Lucas sat around talking but Pete as well. If there was one person who disliked Lucas more than Clark while discounting Lana she knew it was Pete. “Okay did the world flip or something?”

“That’s just what I was thinking.” The blonde turned back to look at her friend who had once again returned to staring at her husband and the other men. “I was sat over there with them at first,” she said. “But it was just too strange so I had to get away before I said something stupid…”

“Like ‘what the fuck is happening?’” Chloe asked.

Lana smiled a little. “Yeah, something along those lines.” She sighed, shaking herself and looking at Chloe. “So…” she said.

“So…” Chloe prompted.

“Oh come on&#33; What really happened last night?”

She was grinning much too broadly for Chloe’s liking, almost as if she knew something that Chloe wasn’t aware of. Finely honed reporter instincts stirred in the blonde woman. “Nothing,” she said experimentally then watched Lana’s reaction with avid interest.

The brunette’s expression fell and she said, “Nothing?” Chloe couldn’t help but think that she sounded a little disappointed which did nothing but spark Chloe’s interest further. What on earth was it that Lana knew that she was not saying?

“Hmm yeah.”

“Are you sure? I mean…” she stopped seeming to catch herself and then altered her approach. “This is *Lex* we’re talking about. He didn’t even try anything?”

There was something almost desperate about the tone of Lana’s voice that urged Chloe to take pity on her. Slipping up onto one of the high stools before the counter the blonde reporter said, “Oh he tried something alright.”

Lana’s eyes brightened noticeably. “He did? Oh cool&#33; I mean, wow that was unexpected right?”

Without alcohol to cloud her judgement Chloe realised something that had been niggling at the back of her mind ever since the evening before. There was certainly something going on that she didn’t know about but apparently it didn’t just involve Lana and perhaps even Pete as she had expected but probably Lex as well. The thought was an uncomfortable one but one that she would certainly take the trouble to look into. At the moment however it was far too easy to settle into the discussion with Lana and forget her suspicions, especially since even when everything else was considered she was more than a little inclined to talk about what had happened earlier in the day anyway.

Cocking her head to one side she said, “You could say that.”

Lana leaned forwards, a conspiratorial expression on her features as she said quietly, “So, what happened?”

Grinning at the other woman Chloe said, “He kissed me.” She had tried to say it as flippantly as possible but Lana clearly caught onto the idea, showing uncharacteristic energy as she bounced up and down on the spot.

“Oh wow&#33;”

“You almost sound more excited than I am,” Chloe said teasingly.

“I just think it’s cool. You’re like… you’re like Chandler and Monica&#33;”

Chloe raised her eyebrows in a silent question.

“From Friends? Remember? They were friends and then they got together and then they got married&#33;”

A flutter or surprise flew threw Chloe and she felt a knot of it curl in her stomach. “What? Okay, one Lex and I were never really friends to begin with. We’re certainly not together and as for marriage? Well, to be honest, marrying Lex would be like admitting I have a death wish considering what normally happens to the women he ends up with.”

Lana appeared bashful. “I might have been getting a little ahead of myself.”

“You think?” Chloe laughed. “It was just one… well a couple of little kisses Lana. Nothing serious. More like an experiment really.”

“But a *nice* experiment?” Lana prompted.

Chloe gave her a wry look and nodded.

“Oh that’s just so cool,” Lana said.

“Will you stop that?&#33;” Chloe exclaimed. “You’re making it sound like we’re back in high school.”

“Sorry,” the brunette said bashfully. “I’m just sort of… happy.”

“I would never have guessed.”

Lana opened her mouth to speak only to be stopped by the sound of ringing. She looked blankly at Chloe for a second and then said, “It’s not mine.”

“Oh&#33;” Chloe gasped and reached into her bag pulling out the phone hidden there. The sound of ringing grew louder and she quickly flipped the phone open to make it stop lifting it to her ear as she did so and said, “Hello?”

“Chloe?”

“Yes…”

“It’s Lex.”

“Oh&#33;” she exclaimed as she abruptly placed the voice on the other end of the line. There was still the question of how Lex had managed to get a hold of her mobile number but for the moment Chloe was willing to let that drop without an answer. “I wasn’t expecting you this soon.”

“I guessed,” he said from the other end of the line even as Lana raised a questioning eyebrow which Chloe had to promptly wave away. She turned away from the counter so that she would not have to deal with Lana at the same time as Lex, still uncertain as to whether her friend would be able to control her propensity to squeal when she realised who it was that Chloe was talking to. Unfortunately that put her in a position where she was looking directly towards Clark, Pete and Lucas, the latter of whom was now watching her with interest. One Luthor she could deal with, two might be pushing it. Chloe stood up and walked across the room so that he was out of her line of sight. “Chloe? Are you still there?”

“Yeah, sorry, just moving somewhere a little more… quiet.”

“Somewhere more private?” he amended.

“Sort of. You do know your brother is in town don’t you?”

“You’ve seen him?” Lex asked and Chloe was unsurprised to hear a vein of tension in his voice as he spoke.

“Not to talk to,” she said. “But he’s in Talon at the moment talking… talking with Pete and Clark actually. Did you send him to behavioural therapy or something?”

“No, why?” Lex laughed.

“Because that’s the only reason that I can think of for him willing sitting around and talking with Clark and Pete.”

“You have a good point,” he answered then paused. “Actually I might look into that.”

“What?”

“Behaviour modification.”

“I wasn’t being serious,” Chloe gasped, stunned at the apparent seriousness in Lex’s voice.

“I know but it’s still a good idea.”

“You might think so but I’m the one Lucas will come after if he ever finds out your plan.”

Lex chuckled at the other end of the line. “I promise to protect you from him okay?”

Chloe glanced around the corner from where she was hiding, more than a little interested in what Lucas was doing since he was the subject of their discussion that that very moment. The idea that he might have snuck up on her and had been listening in with a growing angry temper loomed large in the blonde reporter’s mind suddenly so she was glad to see he was still sat down at some distance. He had however apparently decided to switch seats so he was still looking in her direction which made her a little uncomfortable; not least because it raised the question of why he was suddenly so interested in what she was up to.

“I might have to take you up on that yet,” she said quickly ducking back into what she hoped was a position that she hoped was out of view though not quick to see Lucas smile in her direction.

“Oh?”

He almost sounded a little worried which made Chloe smile and she answered, “Nothing,” not wanting to be the reason that an argument broke out between the two brothers.

“Good. Anyway, I was wondering whether you wanted to get together this evening.”

Chloe frowned. “I thought you wanted to see me tomorrow?”

“I couldn’t wait,” he purred down the phone. The comment made her smile and Chloe took a deep relaxing breath.

“What did you have in mind?” she asked.

“That would be a surprise.”

In complete honestly Chloe said, “I’m not real big on surprises. They’re generally not a good thing in Gotham.”

“This isn’t Gotham,” Lex stated.

“No this is Smallville – which is worse,” Chloe countered and listened to him laugh once again.

“I promise this is going to be a good surprise. Just be ready for say… seven thirty.”

“Okay, but if this turned out to involve some kind of meteorite mutant freak then you’re in trouble.”

“You’ve no need to say so twice,” Lex responded.

“I’ll see you then, then.”

“Good.”

[HumbugGirl]

17.

It occurred to Lex as he pulled up outside Chloe’s house a quarter of an hour early with no excuse as to why he was so early that it was Chloe who should have been nervous and not him. Of course he had no reason to suspect that Chloe *wasn’t* nervous. After all he had not spoken to her since the phone call earlier in the day but there was some part of him that told him pointedly that if he was this nervous then he was taking up her share of the nerves as well and subsequently she should not be nervous. It was twisted, irrational logic but at that moment it was all that Lex was certain he was capable of.

It made him almost disgustingly anxious that he was even capable of feeling in such a way. That he was capable of feeling so very… out of control – far more so that he had felt since he was young and free and living wildly in Metropolis.

Lifting his hands he placed them solidly on the steering wheel before him before taking a long deep breath. Composure was the key. It didn’t matter if he was falling apart on the inside he had to keep the appearance of being the composed Luthor she no doubt knew him to be.

Of course, Lex thought as he looked down at his clothing, she might get to see a very different side to him that night which had nothing to do with composure. Why he had imagined that his plans for the evening were actually a good idea was beyond him… except that he was very nearly certain that Chloe would like the idea. He was, he told himself, quite happy to put aside his own preferences as long it put him one step nearer to his goal.

Lex frowned at how harsh that sounded.

“Forget about it,” he told himself then reached for the door handle.

Stood up, looking up at the Sullivan house Lex shifted uncomfortably in his clothes. It felt odd to be dressed in casual clothing again having confined himself to suits for so long. The jeans were heavy against his legs and the layers of t-shirt, sweatshirt and then lambs wool lined leather jacket provided him with a sense of freedom he was far from used to. In one hand he clutched a hat, reluctant to put it on just yet in case laughed at him when she answered the door.

She’s probably going to laugh anyway, Lex told himself. You might as well make sure it’s a big laugh. Taking the hat he pulled it on and then walked the rest of the way up the path to the front door. The heavy walking boots he was wearing clunked on the wooden decking as he climbed up the stairs, even more loudly as he finished the approach to the door and by that point it had been drown out by the sound of his own heartbeat in his ears. Control, he whispered to himself and rung the doorbell. It was all about maintaining control.

Forever was a long time as he waited for someone to answer the door, it did not seem like long enough however once the door started to open and he realised that it was not Chloe stood there but Gabe. Abruptly he felt like a schoolboy. He wanted to reach up and grab the hat off his head and apologise abruptly for planning to sleep with his daughter.

This was not something he had anticipated.

“Lex.”

“Gabe.”

The other man was staring at his outfit unabashedly. “Ugh… Chloe’s still getting ready. Come in and I’ll… I’ll let her know you’re here.”

He didn’t give Lex a chance to say anything in response just turned and led the way back into the house. In fact he was left stood in the middle of the hall as Gabe walked up the stairs and disappeared from view, calling out to his daughter as he did so. There was a muffled answering call and then a second later Chloe appeared at the head of the stairs managing to make his heart skip a beat as she did so.

“Hah&#33;” the blonde exclaimed triumphantly taking several steps down towards him.

“Hah?” he queried unable to take his eyes off the slight gap where the bathrobe she was wearing had split and revealed a length of thigh.

She wasn’t dressed. Why on earth wasn’t she dressed? Lex resisted the urge to glance at his watch. He wasn’t *that* early.

Still she called his attention back to her sharply as he became aware that she had not quite tied the robe tight enough and it had fallen open just far to give him a hint of cleavage at the same time. Gabe Sullivan would kill him if he ever caught onto the thoughts running through his head right at that moment.

“My little bet paid off,” she said.

“Oh?”

“Well,” she said coming to a halt just before him and cocking her head to one side. “You wouldn’t tell me where we were going so I decided to wait you out and get dressed after you turned up.” Chloe looked him up and down with, if he wasn’t mistaken, an appreciative gleam in her eyes. “And since I was thinking of a dress and high-heals I think I made the right choice.”

Lex grinned at her. She didn’t complain; there wasn’t the slightest bit of a whine to her voice which was refreshing to say the least. She was clearly surprised with him but there was none of the bristling reaction that he might have expected from some girls.

“How disgustingly clever of you,” Lex said.

“You didn’t know already?” Chloe quipped with a grin.

Lex shook his head. Taking hold of her arm lightly he spun her around and gave her a little push towards the stairs. “Go get ready.”

“Okay but if I come back downstairs to find you’ve changed I’ll be really pissed off.” Chloe hoped towards the stairs, running up them with youthful energy and disappearing just as he saw Gabe peer around the head of the stairs and then vanish again. Fortunately it would seem that Gabe wanted to talk to him about as much as he wanted to talk to Gabe at that moment. Well he wouldn’t take small favours for granted.

Chloe emerged nearly ten minutes later. He had expected her to take longer and was surprised to hear her bounding down the stairs towards him. She was dressed in jeans like he was though her pair was distractingly formfitting. Over the top was a brilliant yellow sweater with a high turtleneck and a striped scarf curled around her neck. Over one arm she had slung a jacket that he took from her as she reached the bottom of the stairs and held up for her to put on, hands brushing against hers as he did so.

“Want to let me in on where we’re going?” she asked quickly with excitement gleaming in her eyes. Lex smiled at her, enjoying the obvious desire she was expressing and wrapped his arm around her middle. This, he realised, would have been as good a chance as any to just lean down and kiss her soundly. He reframed however, opting instead to guide her towards the door.

“Not just yet,” he told her.

“You sure?” she checked. “Because I’m just going to ask you millions of questions until we get there and you know how–“

“Irritating?” he hazarded.

Chloe frowned at him over her shoulder. “I was going to say that you know how persistent I can be.”

Lex chuckled at her, unlocking the snug little sports car he had chosen expressly for the evening because he knew it would ensure close proximity to his date. “Just get in the car Chloe,” he said opening the driver’s side and moving to slip inside. A pause followed as he waited for Chloe to make a move then she ducked down and moved gracefully into the car after him.

The door slammed shut behind her and Chloe immediately turning to him, opening her mouth and saying, “Ready to tell me yet?”

“No.”

He became aware of a hand on his arm that quickly moved up to catch hold of his jaw. Chloe turned his face around so that he was looking directly at her with wide surprised eyes. For a moment he wondered whether she wasn’t going to take the initiative and kiss him but instead Chloe seemed to be inspecting his features.

“What on earth are you doing?” he slurred through her grip.

“Checking that you’re really Lex; I just don’t want to end up driving off into the unknown with a look-alike who wants me dead.”

Lex curled his lips into a small smile and reached up to push her hands aside and moved forwards to press his lips onto her. There was the smallest shiver of tension then she relaxed and leaned forwards. “Convinced?” he asked softly, pulling away he did so.

“Maybe just another little tester,” Chloe responded, the leather creaking under her weight as she shifted closer to him.

Lex deepened the kiss, letting it linger as long as she wanted it to and taking full advantage of the fact that Chloe did not appear to want to back away. Instinctively his hand went to her waist, feeling under the jacket she was wearing and Chloe pushed her hands up until they rested on his shoulders. A moment later and he had pulled her closer, so close that the empty air between them all but disappeared. Chloe dragged her fingers up the back of his neck until they rested on the back of his head and pressed him down into one last bruising kiss before she slid back into the passenger seat.

With a broad grin she said, “Want to tell me now?”

“No&#33;” Lex laughed and reached for the ignition.

In truth he was contemplating reassessing his plans; after a kiss like that Lex couldn’t help but wonder whether he should have chosen to do something a little more… intimate.


18.

Chloe could still feel blood burning in her cheeks even though it was nearly an hour since the kiss had ended. It had not however ended in her memory and every time she either accidentally or on purpose glanced towards Lex the sensation of his lips on hers would come rushing back. It was damn irritating because she was certain that Lex had to have noticed how she was reacting to his presence.

Stretching she peered out into the darkness. They were heading to Metropolis – of that much she was sure – but exactly where Lex would take her in the sprawling city that would justify wearing jeans was beyond her. In truth she didn’t think that Lex *ever* went anywhere that didn’t require him to wear a suit or at least a jacket and tie.

And that was one of the reasons she had been half serious when she had joked about ensuring that the Lex sat before her was the real Lex. A small grin danced across her lips as she remembered the kiss; if there was someone else out there who could kiss like Lex then she had yet to come across them.

“We’re here,” he said suddenly and sure enough pulled into a parking space a few seconds later.

Chloe leaned forwards, unfastening her seatbelt and looked out into the darkness beyond the warmth of the car before he had chance to turn the headlights off. All she could see was trees and more trees though through them there was the dull glow of artificial light coming from somewhere. It looked familiar but somehow Chloe couldn’t place it.

She sat back and looked at the billionaire. “Okay I give up, where are we?”

“A few miles outside the city,” he told her, twisting in his seat as he did so and reaching behind their seats and coming up with a large box that he handed to her.

Chloe looked at it sceptically. “Wow, I didn’t realise we were meant to get each other presents,” she said wryly.

“Just open it,” Lex told her pulling at the piece of cord that held the plain brown wrapping paper around the package. The cord fell away and after shooting Lex a suspicious look she folded back the paper to reveal a plain white box.

“This had better not be something disgusting,” she warned him.

“Oh nothing disgusting,” the billionaire replied with a faux serious expression though Chloe was not to know that. “Just some things I thought you’d appreciate… Some handcuffs, kinky underwear and not to forget the whip – although if you want to exchange that last for something a little more personal…” He trailed off; suddenly grinned at Chloe’s slack jawed expression of shock. He couldn’t be serious… but then this was Lex so… “Is something the matter Chloe? After last night,” he added with an appraising leer. “I thought you enjoyed a little walk on the wild side.”

“Well,” she interrupted before he could add anything more. “I do. But, this… well this is… It isn’t exactly…”

Lex chuckled and took the box from her lap. He shook the lid from the top and Chloe had to resist the urge to close her eyes to keep from seeing what was inside. Be brave she told herself. You’re a woman of the world. It can’t be that bad.

The thought stopped short as brightly coloured graphics on a second box came into view and then a picture which had nothing to do with sex – at least nothing that she knew of anyway. Lex reached into the box and handed her the contents.

“Ice skates?” Chloe queried. “Why would..? Oh&#33;” she exclaimed. Slowly a smile flitted onto Chloe’s features as a thought dawned on her. “We’re going ice skating?”

Lex nodded. “That was the idea.”

“Wow, I haven’t been in years.” She sat up straighter, twisting in her seat to look out all the windows of the car. “Where’s the rink though? I didn’t even know there was one all the way out here.”

“It opened a couple of years ago when the old one in the city was blown up by someone with a grudge.”

“Metropolis never changes.”

“Much like Gotham.”

“There are certain similarities,” Chloe agreed with a nod of her head. Looking down at the skates she added, “I really hope I don’t make an idiot of myself out there. I’ve never had the *best* balance on skates before.”

“Oh I wouldn’t worry about that if I was you,” Lex said handing her the box back. He reached for the door handle before she could speak again.

“Why not?”

The billionaire shot a grin back at her again before climbing out of the car, pulling a bag out of the backseat as he went. Chloe frowned and hurried after him.

“Why not?” she repeated while looking over the car at him.

“You are the most impatient person,” he told her leaning on his side of the parked vehicle. “It would be endearing if it wasn’t so infuriating.”

Chloe narrowed her eyes at him. “I could say the same to you only that you’re incredibly stubborn instead of being impatient.”

“Oh I could be impatient,” he told her with a sly look that made Chloe’s heart doing an irritating skip of a beat. Even when she was trying to be serious, to be stern with him, then it was impossible because he always seemed to find a way of getting around it.

She stepped away from the car. “You’ll have to tell me about that later. Now, which way do we go?”

“There’s a path through the trees,” he said coming around the car so that they were stood together once again. He took the box from her and slipped it under one arm though Chloe followed after it and slipped her arm around his spare one and hugged herself closer to him. It was an instinctive action and she didn’t notice the way in which Lex glanced down at her in surprise, only aware of what she had done when he started to walk them in the directions of the tree line. For the briefest second Chloe felt uncomfortable at the intimacy but the feeling of Lex so warm and so close was enough to make her get over it.

The trees did not turn out to be as thick as she had at first suspected that they were and before long they found themselves stood on a concourse before an outdoor rink. There were seats around the perimeter, reaching up several flights into the sky and a concessions stand near to where they had walked in.

“This is great,” Chloe said as she took in the floodlights brightly lighting the rink. Then she stopped short and frowned. “Lex, this might sound a bit like an obvious question but where are all the other people?”

“Which other people?” Lex asked and guided her over to a bench. He placed the bag he had been carrying down on the floor and the box containing her skates next to it.

“The other customers,” Chloe answered. He didn’t answer for a moment, just long enough for a thought to dawn on the blonde reporter. “Oh you didn’t&#33;” she gasped. Touching his shoulder she made him look at her. “You did not hire out the entire rink just for us.”

Something clinked in the bag and Lex straightened up and drew out a bottle of champagne. He placed it on the bench beside him then pulled out a couple of glasses as well.

“You really did, didn’t you?” Chloe asked again. She sat on the bench beside him, the glasses between them. “Wow. I mean, I guess I should have expected that but wow all the same.” Looking at him, taking in his profile and wondering whether Lex didn’t actually look a little nervous, she added, “I can safely say no one has ever gone to that much trouble for me before. Thank you, that’s really sweet.”

She watched as his lips curled into a satisfied smile and felt an instantaneous shiver of happiness move through her. “Pass those skates over,” she said. “I want to see you fall on your ass.”

“I think you’re going to be seriously disappointed then.”

Chloe grinned at him as she slipped off her own shoes and began grappling with the heavy skates. “Is that a bet?

Lex raised his eyebrows at her. “Why do I get the feeling you wouldn’t be above resorting to a bit of cheating?”

She held her hands up in front of her. “Hey if I accidentally bump into you then it isn’t *my* fault if you fall over is it?”

“Okay, I’ll give you that. But I will warn you that if that happens, I’m not going down alone.”

Clicking the last of the clasps into place Chloe stood up unsteadily though she tried not to make it appear that way. After wobbling a little bit she took up what she hoped was a relaxed stance and put her hands on her hips, “See? Perfect balance.”

“You’re not on the ice yet,” Lex quipped also standing up and with considerably more ease that she had done. Stepping past her to slip easily through the gap in the railings Lex turned and looked at her. “Coming Chloe?”

He pushed away from the railing, gracefully gliding backwards on the ice before turning with unexpected ease and skating off a little way. Chloe watched in a mixture of amazement and awe. Who would ever have imagined that Lex Luthor would be quite so competent on the ice? It just did not seem like the sort of thing he would get much practise at.

Nerves curled in Chloe’s stomach and she couldn’t escape the idea that perhaps she was about to make a giant fool out of herself – definitely something she did not look forwards to doing in front of Lex. In the distance the man in question spun on the ice and instantly left Chloe envying him. In truth she half wished they were in the midst of a crowd because the thought that everyone would know that she was with skilled skater was more than a little pleasing. Well, either that or because there would be more of a chance he would bump into someone and go flying. A wicked little grin curled onto Chloe’s lips and she gathered her courage together before stepping onto the ice.

She didn’t *immediately* fall over which was a definite relief. What’s more she found she did not even need to cling onto the barrier to stop herself from doing so. Still Chloe decided to move steadily before she found her feet; muscles and skills she had not exercised in years being reawakened though not without a measure of protest. Gliding around the outside of the rink in a large circle was easy enough though Chloe didn’t dare try to turn or spin as Lex did however confident she was feeling. It was enough for her to feel proud enough of herself that she had not entirely managed to show herself up and by the time that Lex decided to cut across the centre of the ice and skate towards her there was a broad smile on her face.

“How are you doing?” he asked moving a long by the side of her.

Chloe shot him a glimpse of her smile. “This is great,” she breathed, smiling at the way her words formed white clouds in the air.

He grinned at her, a broad honest grin that showed throughout his features and right into his eyes. Reaching out he gently took how of her arm and said, “Just relax.”

His arm moved around her waist and Chloe all but froze, certain that they were both going to go flying at any moment. Lex seemed to know more than she did however and the pair continued to glide around the rink in comfortable union. It was all Chloe could do to avoid relaxing too far and lay her head against his shoulder as they moved.

“This is better,” she said quietly. “How did you get so good at this anyway?”

Lex shrugged his shoulders. “I honestly don’t know. Natural talent?”

She shot him a surprised look, abruptly aware that perhaps she was seeing a different side to the man beside her than she had ever seen before. It was strange and… nice, making her feel oddly privileged to be there. “Well I’m impressed,” she said. “I would never have imagined and I’m sincerely glad that you didn’t take me up on that bet.”

“I’m starting to wish I had,” he said close to her ear. There was something in his voice that made her tense so that when he added, “Because I know just what I would have asked for in reward,” she jumped a little and spun sharply to look at him.

Only after the fact did it dawn on Chloe what she had done, that her foot was at an odd angle and that she had somehow managed to catch the back of Lex’s boot as she did so. The surprise on his face was evident, even more so when he began to fall backwards. True to his word, though perhaps unintentionally, Lex’s hand fastened on her wrist so that as he landed with a bump on the ice she was not far after him. Chloe landed heavily though she was instantly aware by the sound of an ‘oomph’ that it was perhaps not as heavily as it might have been.

“Okay ow,” she said putting her hands on either side of her and finding them on leather. She pushed up and listened as underneath her Lex groaned.

“Don’t,” he said. “Just… lay still.”

“Oh my God&#33;” she exclaimed. “Are you okay? Did I hurt you?”

“No I just like the feeling of you lying there,” he said dryly.

Chloe smacked him on the shoulder and tried to sit up again. Her hand slipped out from under her however and she fell forwards again, bashing her nose against Lex’s. They both cried out in pain as well as shock and then lay very still.

“Sorry,” Chloe said.

“It’s okay… I think.”

“No really I’m sorry,” she said sitting up as far as she could manage without risking hurting him again in order to look into his eyes. There was a look of definite pain there but something else as well and Chloe froze. She abruptly became aware that he had a hand on the middle of her back and another that was sliding upwards. It pushed into her hair and barely a heartbeat later Chloe found her head pulled down into what rapidly became a furious kiss.

The blonde brought her hands up and though they were wet from the ice she cupped his face to hold it in place even as she felt Lex bring a leg up to part her thighs. Chloe slide forwards ever so slightly, finding herself straddling his middle even as Lex groaned loudly.

Chloe stopped short vaguely aware that it wasn’t a groan of pleasure she had heard. Indeed almost instantly Lex’s hands were on her shoulders pushing her away and she found himself rolling sideways onto the ice. Almost immediately the cold and wet began to seep through her jeans but Chloe found she didn’t care, she was far too focused on Lex who was wincing and seemed to be holding onto his middle with one hand.

“Lex? You okay?” she asked cautiously.

His answer was another groan.

[HumbugGirl]

19.

Forty-five minutes later and she was sat in the waiting room of a private clinic in Metropolis, comfortably ensconced on a sizeable armchair with a coffee on the low table before her that tasted entirely too good to have come from a machine. There was only one other person in the room, a middle-aged woman who cast a relaxed smile in Chloe’s direction whenever they both happened to look up at the same time and when the latter wasn’t dazzled by the soft light in the room bouncing of the quite simply huge diamond ring she was wearing. What’s more Chloe knew for a fact that at that moment they were with the only two patrons who had been brought into the emergency department of the small though marvellously well equipped private hospital. It proved to Chloe one thing and one thing only, money really did matter when it came to healthcare.

The door opened silently, a doctor stepping through it just as quietly. Both women looked up sharply, focusing on the man with a level of intensity that would have made him flinch backwards if he were not faced with it every shift. “Miss Sullivan?” he said and Chloe waved her hand a little self-consciously before standing up. She had the abruptly urge to say, ‘here’. He smiled at her broadly and added, “Mr Luthor is back from x-ray so you can see him now.”

Chloe all but groaned. A cursory glance at the other woman confirmed the blonde reporter’s suspicions; the diamonds were suddenly dimmed by the interest in her expression. No doubt by tomorrow the entire of Metropolis’ elite inner social circle would know that one of the elusive Luthor males had been taken to hospital by her. She rounded the table quickly, wanting to be out of the room before the woman could actually ask her any questions.

Lex was in a private room, sitting up on the edge of one of the high hospital beds. Chloe’s eyes were immediately drawn to the white bandage wrapped around his middle, obscuring what she knew to be fine stomach muscles though they did not go high enough to cover his upper chest. She paused for a moment then caught herself as she realised she was staring. Looking up Chloe blushed a little even though she knew she had not been caught as Lex was still hunched over, looking down towards the floor.

Crossing the room she touched him on the shoulder gently. Lex looked up and shot a half smirk in her direction.

“He’s cracked a couple of ribs,” the doctor said approaching them cautiously. In truth he did not want to interrupt the moment between them but the quicker that he did so the quicker he could get out of the room and leave them to whatever the hell it was that was going on between them. “Nothing too serious but he will have to take it easy for a few days.” Grinning he added, “Definitely no more ice skating.”

“I think we can manage that,” Chloe laughed. Absently she slid her hand around to the back of Lex’s neck. “You’ve got to let me drive this time,” she said.

Lex winced again. “I think I could manage.”

“At this rate I’m going to think you don’t trust me. Just hand over the keys and then let’s get going.” She held her hand out, waiting impatiently for him to follow her suggestion and making her expression clear that she wasn’t going to take no for an answer. For once Lex seemed to decide that arguing would not be a good idea and seconds later Chloe’s fingers closed around the keys to the sports car outside. “Need a hand getting up?” she asked lightly only to be greeted by a frown from the man.

“I think I can manage,” he said dryly and promptly slipping off the bed and onto his feet. Reaching behind him onto the bed Lex grabbed his t-shirt and sweatshirt. Holding them before him Lex’s face creased into yet another frown, the meaning of which Chloe caught onto only a second later.

Grabbing the sweatshirt after deciding that it would probably be the easier garment to deal with she said, “Arms up,” and held it before her expectantly. Lex looked a little sceptical, raising an eyebrow and looking at her like she might in fact be mad.

“I am quite capable of dressing myself Chloe.”

“I’m sure you are but I think we both know at the moment that would end up causing you more than a little pain so why don’t we just side-step that by you letting me help you out.” There must have been something on her face which suggested that contradicting her would not be a good idea because a second later, after the glimmer of surprise and scepticism and perhaps even a flicker of amusement had disappeared Lex nodded his head and slowly, stiffly lifted his arms until they were above his head. He groaned audibly even as Chloe found herself having to bite her lip to stop herself from doing exactly the same thing at the same time. With his arms stretched above his head added definition of his muscles were visible and Chloe was abruptly reluctant to cover them up.

“Could we hurry this up?” Lex asked making Chloe all too aware of the fact she had been caught staring.

She stepped towards the bed, reaching up to slip the shirt over his hands and arms and then his head. Perched on the side of the bed through Lex’s reach made him far taller than she was and before long the blonde was forced onto her tiptoes to try and attain the height she needed. She wobbled forwards, only just managing to catch her balance before falling. Even as she caught herself though, warm hands closed on her waist and held her steady. The shirt had slid easily down once she managed to get it over his hands and Lex had quickly lowered his arms to catch her. By that point Chloe was not really concentrating on what the sweatshirt was doing anymore though. Instead the feeling of Lex’s hands slipping underneath her jumper to rest on her bare flesh was firmly ingrained in the centre of her attention, even more so when she felt him begin to massage the skin. Her breath caught in her throat and Chloe had to force herself to remember to breath, refocusing her attention on the task pulling the sweatshirt down the last few inches so that it lay in place.

Chloe met his eyes, immediately aware that the last thing present in Lex’s brilliant blue eyes at that moment was pain. In truth she had never really believed before that moment that blue eyes could be so warm… but Lex’s eyes, his eyes were instilled with such emotion that he wondered whether they weren’t on fire.

He didn’t break the gaze for a moment as he moved his hands around, first moving them to her back in order to pull her towards him and then sliding them up. One came around slipping over her skin with practised ease, fingertips grazing over her momentarily while he rotated his hand. Lex leaned forwards, kissing her lightly on the lips then trailing smaller kisses down the line of her jaw until he found her neck and there he paused over her pulse point. Chloe’s heart skipped for a moment and then began to pound loudly in her ears even as blood raced to certain other parts of her body. She let herself get caught in the moment and moved closer to him even as the pressure of his hand cupped her breast through the lace of her bra. Chloe gave a little shudder of pleasure as he rubbed the heated flesh, fingers tracing the relief of her nipple through the fabric. There was a wonderful contrast between the gentleness of his motions and the sensation of the lace scrapping across the sensitive flesh even as she felt his tongue trace patterns against her pulse.

Chloe twisted her head, drawing his face up to herself and once again pressing their lips together. Under hers his lips felt swollen, hot and full and delicious. She nibbled and tasted feeling him tighten his hold on her. It was… exciting. In the back of her mind there was the constant knowledge that there was an element of danger, they were in a hospital room and anyone might walk in at any moment but more than that she couldn’t escape the knowledge that Lex seemed to care even less that she did because it was he who was urging her forwards.

She jumped when she felt him reach down to cup her ass, fingers pressing hard into her through the denim. Barely a breath later and she had more reason for surprise as Lex moved his hand around to cup her groin, his finger’s pressing the seam of her jeans against her heated pussy. Chloe wriggled against his hand, gasping as the pressure increased and he slowly rubbed his finger back and forth. Pinpricks of energy danced out from her clit, tightening her lower body and making her shudder again. Their lips were parted and Chloe forced to lick hers as she felt her quickened breath begin to dry them.

Concentrating was hard so she barely felt the moment that Lex popped out the button on her jeans, slipped down the zip and moved his hand inside her pants. The first she was aware of it was the second that his fingertips nudged aside her panties and stroked the swollen nub he found there.

Light exploded behind her eyes and Chloe let out a straggled little cry even as she collapsed forwards completely into his arms. Her head fell onto his shoulder as she continued to breathe hard and the blonde brought her arms up to cling onto his neck.

Lex glanced down at her unnoticed, a contented smile slipping onto his features even as he felt apprehension begin to gnaw at his stomach.


20.

Pete shifted uneasily from one foot to the other as he looked at the scene before him. He wasn’t entirely certain how it had happened but somehow, at some point during the day, he had managed to invite Lucas Luthor around to dinner and to his shock as much as anyone else’s the man had agreed. Now they were seated around his kitchen table, Lana at one end, he at the other and with Clark and Lucas facing off across the middle. It was one of the oddest scenes he had ever seen in his life and considering that he had lived in Smallville all his life that was saying a lot.

Give me an acid spitting meteorite mutant any day of the week over Lucas Luthor he thought while trying to keep the expression on his face pleasant – or at the very least stoic. The fact was that while he had been struggling with his distaste all day the youngest Luthor had not done a single thing to make him angrier or even justify his existing anger. Lucas had been a perfect gentleman and beyond that a nice enough guy. He had chatted about anything and everything that Pete or Clark had wanted to discuss with a characteristic Luthor ease though with now of the apparent calculation he still noticed in Lex’s conversation despite the fact he had been friends with the billionaire for years. It was just bizarre - there was no other word for it.

Something must have shown on his face because Lucas turned his attention towards Pete. The man smiled, a degree of humour even reaching his eyes as he did so, and he said, “So I guess you’re less than impressed that Lex in wining and dining Chloe tonight?”

It was all Pete could do not to choke on the mouthful of food he had just raised to his lips. He actually was forced to put his fork down and reach for his glass, raising it to his lips and taking a long drink before he could bring himself to answer. “Well I… Lex is alright,” he said.

Lucas laughed. “You don’t even sound like you’ve convinced yourself,” he said.

“I think what Pete means,” Clark said. “Is that it’s always strange when you’re friends start seeing each other - especially when it… when it happens so quickly.”

This time Lucas smirked. He looked down at the plate of food before him, raising a bite to his lips and swallowing. In truth Pete was surprised that he hadn’t complained at it. He would have imagined that Lana’s cooking, while perfectly fine in his eyes, would have been a perfect opportunity for the youngest Luthor to take a chunk out of his wife. As it was the two of them had been given to bouts of staring all evening with distain on one side and dislike on the other. Pete had the very uncomfortable feeling that the moment that Lucas and Clark left them he was going to get a serious talking to from his wife.

“Please, you’ve watched Lex enough over the years to know that’s exactly how he works. What would be slow for Lex would be quick for everyone else.”

The nervous looks that passed between Lana and Clark were not lost on Pete so he seriously doubted that they would be lost on Lucas. That was the last thing that they needed; Lucas growing suspicious could only lead to trouble for them all; not least because he might discover the plan but because of the call that Lex had made to Clark earlier on in the day.

“Lex isn’t a bad sort,” Lana said carefully. “Besides Chloe’s a full grown woman – she can take care of herself.”

“So you do doubt him?” Lucas asked with a raised eyebrow. He leaned his elbows on the table and stared intently at her making Lana lean back in her seat. “If you weren’t then you wouldn’t have mentioned that Chloe can take care of herself.”

“Well she can,” Lana said defensively with a shrug.

“Oh I *know* she can,” he answered and to Pete it did sound as if he knew. That one factor ignited Pete’s interest abruptly. What the hell did he know about Chloe anyway? As far as he knew the pair had barely ever spoken. Lucas did not care to elaborate though so there was not going to be any answer soon.

“It’s not like it’s anything serious,” Lana said and Pete could have groaned. The tone of his wife’s voice had been entirely too high and with more than a little guilt to it which suggested to everyone in the room that there was indeed something fairly serious at stake.

“You sure?” Lucas asked quickly. “Because you know what Lex is like when it comes to getting married.”

Pete chuckled before he could stop himself but a horrified look had filtered onto Clark’s features unchallenged. No doubt the idea of Luthor marrying Chloe was more than the reporter’s simple view of life could take. Pete already knew that Clark was having problems getting his head around their plan as it was. It was enough to make Pete want to change the direction of the conversation but before he could say anything his wife’s voice filled the room.

Lana charged on heedless of Clark’s reaction however and the inquisitive tone in Lucas’s voice. “Oh no. He wouldn’t do that; he’s just…” She stopped short, catching herself before she could say anymore while taking in her husband’s horrified expression. Within a millisecond a similar panicked expression had flitted onto Lana’s suddenly pale features and she looked desperately towards her husband to save her. Pete however was lost for words.

“Just what?” Lucas asked.

“Just… nothing. It’s…”

“Just a bit of fun, right?” Pete interrupted before she could dig the hole she found herself in any deeper. “I mean that’s what we all think right?” The other two nodded their head furiously in unison while Lucas looked on with an obviously sceptical look in his eyes.

“Right,” Lucas said, drawing the word out slowly. The grin he gave afterwards was not a nice one.

* * * *

They were up to something. All of them. He could tell they were but what that something was, was still unknown. What was known was that it certainly involved Chloe Sullivan and his brother and more than that, that his brother was probably in on it or he would not have tried to divert Lucas away towards these three jokers who was undoubtedly meant to divert him in turn.

Lucas savoured the thought as he stood by the kitchen door watching Lana as she stood before the sink. The woman was playing the good little wife while they husband and his best friend was holed up in the living room chatting away. Of course from what Lucas was able to tell they were talking about the quickest way to get rid of him while trying to figure out whether getting rid of him at all would be a good idea. It was almost laughable. Almost.

He pushed away from the doorframe and quietly stalked across the kitchen towards her. Lana was oblivious to his presence, actually humming some annoying happy sounding ditty to herself as she washed up a large pan. As he leaned over her shoulder and she still did not notice his presence Lucas couldn’t help but grin at the perfection of the situation he found himself in at that moment.

“So what do you really think of Chloe and Lex?” he asked quietly.

She jumped, spinning around and placing a hand on her chest to try and control the apparently wild beating of her heart. For a second Lucas briefly wondered whether she was going to faint and then she seemed to compose herself quickly.

“Lucas, you shouldn’t sneak up on people like that&#33;” she scolded.

He decided to play along, to play at being the friend she never knew she had. “Sorry,” he said with a sheepish grin.

Lana smiled at him though the action was a nervous one. “It’s okay. You just surprised me.” She reached to one side, grabbing a tea towel and drying her hands. “What did you want?”

“Oh I was just wondering what you thought of Lex and Chloe seeing each other… you seemed almost happy about it… almost as if you were pushing it.” Lucas grinned at her indulgently. “Have you been playing matchmaker?”

There was a perceptible widening of her eyes which confirmed what he had thought even before she spoke. The question he had now was why Lex had lied to him about it being about business and nothing else. He had been interested before in what was going on, now he was positively fascinated.

Talking to Lex, he reasoned, had got him nowhere. Lana was an idiot who actually imagined that trying to fix her friends up with couples was a good idea and from the reaction of the double act in the living room then they were no doubt going along with her plans. That left one person who could help him figure out what the hell was going on – Chloe herself.

Lucas barely suppressed a grin. This might actually be fun after all.

* * * *

Lana closed the front door after watching Lucas walk down the drive to his car and let out an explosive breath of air. The last few hours of her life had been some of the tensest that she had ever experienced. It had been like a four hour long interrogation and most of the questions had been directed at her.

Why she had been singled out was beyond Lana.

Walking into the living room she collapsed onto the couch beside her husband, automatically curling herself up so that she was leaned against him under the protection of his arm.

“Well,” she said putting a hand on Pete’s stomach and staring up at him adoringly. “I think we got away with that don’t you?”

For a second he shot an incredulous look at her even as Clark groaned. The other man dropped his head into his hands and rubbed it quickly even as Pete patted her arm reassuringly. “Sure we did honey,” he said. “Sure we did.”

[HumbugGirl]

21.

The first thing that Lex became aware of the next morning was a dull ache permeating his entire side. It took him what seemed like an exceptionally long time before he remembered the reason that he happened to have such an ache in that particular spot and then another to be thankful that it was only a *dull* pain as opposed to the horrid one it might have been if he had not woken in the early hours of the morning and taken a couple of painkillers. Or, if he was truthful with himself, twice as many pills as he should have taken just to make sure that his sleep went on further without interruption.

The next thing that he became aware of was that there was an astonishingly irritating sound blaring into his ear at an utterly unjust volume and that was closely followed by the thought that he would have done *anything* to make it go away at that particular moment. Forcing himself to roll onto his side he slapped away at the snooze button on his alarm clock, missing it several times before finally giving in and struggling to sit up and twist to actually pick the damn thing up. In the end he wished he hadn’t made the effort as the pain in his side intensified as if punishing him.

“Ugh,” he murmured then automatically looked around to the other side of the bed hopefully.

It was empty of course. He had wanted Chloe to be there but in the split second it took him to turn and look he had remembered her decision the night before to not stay over at the mansion after driving him back to Smallville. He had been disappointed – intensely disappointed in fact if he was honest – but Lex had not let it show at the time simply because even while he was disappointed another thought had been nagging at the back of his mind constantly. Abruptly he had discovered at some point of the evening he wasn’t entirely certain that he could remember that taking things quickly, especially after the considerable conversation they had shared on the way back from the hospital, was no longer that appealing even if there were certain parts of his anatomy that disagreed violently.

The moment they had shared in the hospital had been intense and one that was not easily forgettable. The sight of her head on his shoulder after she had come was not one that he could easily get out of his mind even if it was in favour of work which in truth should have been taking priority – something which he had to remind himself of every five minutes ever since they had collapsed together on the ice. That time in the hospital though, the image of Chloe so sated had stuck with him and had continued to do so for half the night, disrupting his sleep whether while he was being kept awake with memories or during his sleep with vivid dreams that had left him with a non-too small problem beneath the expensive silk sheets. It had also alerted him to the possibility that perhaps he should have paid a little more attention to the idea that he could actually develop feelings for Chloe that went beyond what he had agreed with himself and with his friends in the beginning of the whole charade.

The question he now found himself with now was what he should do next. It was decidedly more complex than he wanted it to be.

Lex slowly pushed him into a standing position, shuffling out of the bed and moving across the room to grab his robe from where he had flung it the night before. It took him longer than he might usually have expected to pull it on and once he did Lex simply collapsed into the armchair where he had found it, an element of exhaustion from his disrupted sleep still lingering with him.

This wasn’t doing any good; just sitting around and thinking too hard about things that shouldn’t matter anyway. He should be at work – there was a board meeting that had been scheduled for this morning that he had cancelled yesterday believing that perhaps Chloe might have been staying over and knowing that rushing away from her side would not have been an appealing prospect. As she had not stayed over then there was every chance that he could simply reschedule it in the same slot; his word was law after all with the company. The problem with that little idea though was that while he could go to the meeting he had the sneaking suspicion that his levels of concentration would be less than desirable – something that he did not dare risk.

With a sigh he brought one hand up to rub at his eyes. Work was therefore out of the question and Lex abruptly realised that as that was the case he had very little he *could* actually do to fill the day. If he wasn’t working nowadays he was normally sleeping or making excuses so that he could visit Lana and Pete or occasionally Clark if the reporter came home to visit his parents, a thought that made Lex grimace as he realised how pathetic it actually sounded. Of course it also suggested to him that there was only one course of action left open to him and that was to go into town to visit his friends.

That though would probably bring him into contact with Chloe at some point and while the idea of seeing her again was not unappealing part of him had already decided that taking a little time to rethink his situation, his approach to the situation at hand, was probably a very, very good idea.

* * * *

Chloe woke with the feeling that while she couldn’t remember exactly what had been the substance of her dreams, whatever she had been dreaming about had been very pleasant indeed. Even as her eyes opened she stretched her arms above her head and smiled broadly, enjoying the moment even as she enjoyed the sensation of sunlight filtering in through a gap in her bedroom curtains to lay over her. A glance towards her alarm clock showed that it was midmorning and that it had not been her alarm that had woken her at all. It took a moment for Chloe’s mind to catch up with the rest of her and she frowned, wondering what it was that had woken her if not the clock.

She pushed herself into a sitting position even as a low humming noise filled her ears once again. The blonde frowned a little as she sought out the direction the noise was coming from, her eyes eventually focusing on the bag she had taken out with her the evening before. Leaning out of bed she grabbed it, searching around inside until she came up with her mobile phone. The sight of the name on the display made her smile and she flipped it open saying, “You know you woke me up right?”

A warm chuckling sound emerged from the phone and an all too familiar voice said, “Somehow that doesn’t surprise me – not after the night that you’ve apparently had that is.”

The frown returned and Chloe asked, “What are you talking about?”

At the other end of the line she heard a rustling noise and then the voice read, “’Late last night a certain Miss Chloe Sullivan, reporter at a well known Gotham newspaper, was spotted climbing into a car with none other than billionaire Lex Luthor. The pair looked to be on intimate terms – could this signal the end of Miss Sullivan’s long running affair with local businessman Bruce Wayne?’ Want me to continue?”

“We’ve been having an affair?” Chloe asked letting a degree of innocence sneak into her voice.

“You didn’t know?” Bruce laughed. More rustling filled the phone as Bruce apparently put the paper to one side. “So do you want to tell me why you were out with Lex last night?”

“You do know we’re not really in a relationship don’t you Bruce?” she asked carefully.

“Of course. I can’t be interested in a friend?”

“You called me up to read me an article from a gossip column… somehow I get the feeling you have a separate agenda here.”

“You haven’t answered my question yet.”

Shifting so she was sitting on the edge of her bed Chloe pulled the covers over her legs and pushed her feet into slippers. “Which question would that be?” she asked knowing full well which he had meant.

”Chloe…” he said in playful warning tones.

“Okay, okay… I don’t know when they spotted us but we were out on a date.”

Bruce fell silent.

“Oh come on,” Chloe said. “Please tell me you’re not jealous or something…” She stood, moving towards her bedroom door with the intention of going downstairs and hunting out something to eat.

“I’m not jealous.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“It’s Lex Luthor,” Bruce said and the way he said it clearly showed that he less than approved of the man. “You’ve heard the rumours as well as I have.”

“Sure I have but unlike you apparently I don’t always listen to them.”

He sighed loudly, the sound audible over the creak of her footsteps as she walked down the staircase into the silent lower portion of the house. No doubt her father had already headed out for the day; if her stay in Smallville so far had shown her anything it was that her father was amazingly active. “I don’t have to listen to them Chloe,” Bruce said suddenly. “I know the man. I went to school with him and I know exactly what he can be like.”

“Don’t be all judgemental Bruce. I’m just having a bit of fun and I’m sure he is too.”

“Perhaps that’s what I’m worried about,” he said dryly. “Your version of fun tends to led to your getting into trouble.”

“Now you do sound jealous,” she laughed. “I know how you like a little trouble…” she trailed off as she stepped into the doorway of the living room, her eyes widening broadly as she spied who was sat there.

“It’s not that,” Bruce said though the words barely registered with the woman who he was speaking to. “I’m worried about Lex’s intentions okay? He’s been overly interested in my business dealings recently and…”

“Listen,” Chloe interrupted. “Can we argue about this later?”

“Why? What’s happened?”

“Bruce… something came up okay? I’ll call you back later.” Much later, she thought as she continued to stare at the person sat in her living room.

“I… okay,” he said and Chloe winced at the disappointment and bewilderment in his voice. “I’ll call you back.”

“Sure, bye.”

“Bye.”

Snapping the phone shut Chloe stepped forwards into the room and raised an eyebrow at the person on the couch. “What to explain what you’re doing in my living room?”


22.

Leaning back further on the couch, making it all too apparent that he was comfortable with the situation Lucas said, “Your father let me in just before he went out. You really ought to remind him that this is Smallville.”

She stared at him dumbfound then crossed her arms over her chest, clutching the phone she had been on when she entered the room a little too tightly in one hand. Lucas found himself unable to avoid looking at her chest, the thin material of the skimpy little pyjama top she was wearing stretching over her bust and outlining distractingly full breasts. The top did not quite reach the waistband of her pyjama bottoms and exposed a pale flat stomach that his eyes quickly skimmed over on their way down and then back up.

“Do you want to stop doing that?” she asked with a hint of annoyance evident in her voice.

“I can’t take a look at what’s got my brother all put out?”

She screwed her face up and said, “I doubt Lex would appreciate it.”

Lucas shrugged his reply. “Lex knows what I’m like.”

There was something adorable about the way in which she snorted a response and turning around, heading back out of the room and forcing him to follow her. Lucas found himself abruptly approving of his decision to question her all over again as he realised that at least part of the attraction his brother no doubt felt for her was related to her apparently fiery temperament. Leaping up off the couch and quick stepping after her he paused in the doorway to the room she had entered, watching as Chloe went about making herself breakfast.

“Don’t I get anything?” he asked.

She glared at him over her shoulder. “You come into my house uninvited and you expect me to make you breakfast? The only reasons I haven’t booted you out already are that you’re Lex’s brother and I can’t help but wonder why the hell you’re here anyway.” Chloe turned back to the counter, picking up a couple of slices of bread and slipping them into the toaster before her before stepping towards the refrigerator.

“Oh that’s easy,” Lucas said with a smirk. “I want to ask you out.”

Chloe froze, going almost frighteningly still before turning with calculated slowness of speed. Once turned around she leaned against the refrigerator door and said, “Sorry can you repeat that?”

The smirk broadened into a grin as he moved further into the room, slipping onto a seat at the breakfast table and leaning his elbows on it. “You heard.”

“That’s what I was afraid of,” she answered dryly. In her features Lucas could not help but see the way in which she quickly mulled over his words, concentration flickering over them rapidly before she came to any conclusions. Again she folded her arms and then said, “Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why are you asking me out?”

“Why wouldn’t I want to – aside from the fact that you’re seeing Lex that is?”

“How about the fact that this is the longest conversation that we’ve ever had?”

“Maybe I want to rectify that,” he answered with the most appealing quirk of his lips that he could manage. To his satisfaction Chloe shifted from one foot to the other and for a second managed to look distinctly uncomfortable. He had been worried before that perhaps she was somehow immune to his charms – as laughable as it seemed to Lucas that it was actually possible – but that one little movement showed him that she wasn’t.

Chloe shook herself, turning away from him and back to the refrigerator which she opened. Briefly she disappeared inside, popping back out a second later and turning to him while waving around a carton of milk in one hand. “This conversation has not happened,” she said and for a second Lucas was unable to disguise his surprise at her words.

“Pardon?”

“We’re going to pretend this conversation hasn’t happened.”

“And why would we do that exactly?” he asked slipping off the stool he had been occupying and moving around to stand in front of the breakfast table. Once there he folded his arms across his chest and waited expectantly.

“Because I have the sneaking suspicion this is you trying to play some sort of Luthor-game and although I’m dating your brother there is no way in hell I plan to get in the middle of some sort of fucked up competitiveness that you two seem to spend your entire time maintaining.” She paused, realising that she had been waving around the carton of milk and turning a little to one side to place it down on the counter. “It’s not that this isn’t all very flattering,” Chloe said slowly. “Because it is if you count me important enough to try and con as well in whatever you’re evidently trying to pull over on your brother.”

“And if I’m not playing games?” Lucas asked finding himself intrigued as to what her answer would be and if she could possibly surprise him anymore than she already had done.

“You are.”

“But say I wasn’t?”

Once again Chloe shifted uneasily, almost as if she wasn’t quite so certain about what she was saying or thinking anymore. The change was rapid and oddly satisfying for Lucas. He took a further step across the room, almost covering the entire distance as he did so and putting himself only inches away from Chloe. She pretended not to notice his presence; he could tell from the way that she very pointedly avoided looking at him.

“Chloe?” he said softly, letting his voice drop a little in what he hoped was a way that emphasised whatever gentle quality there was there to begin with.

“If you weren’t then I’d say… I’d say that you have a really big problem.”

“You’re not even going to consider it?” he asked reaching out to touch her arm.

She didn’t pull away immediately but she did tense noticeably. “It’s not exactly an option is it?”

He smirked. “Does that mean that if you weren’t seeing my brother then you’d go out on a date with me?”

“That doesn’t mean anything,” she answered.

“I think I’ll just decide to disagree with you there.”

“I think I know what I mean Lucas,” she said.

“Can’t I live in denial?” he asked hovering over her shoulder.

“It would be better if you didn’t.”

Lucas pulled a way a little, moving so that he was leaning against the counter beside her. “You’re making a mistake you know,” he told her. When the blonde woman didn’t ask him to elaborate he did so anyway. “I mean, you know what Lex is like…”

“I know what you’re like,” she countered quickly.

“You know what you’ve heard,” Lucas added dryly. “But we’re not talking about me at the moment.”

“What are we talking about then?”

“You and Lex.”

She shot a glance towards him which was briefly puzzled. “I thought that they were one and the same topic in your mind.”

Lucas shrugged. “On some levels I suppose. On others… well you couldn’t be further from the truth.”

Even from where he was standing Lucas could see Chloe roll her eyes. As he watched her a thought abruptly hit Lucas and he realised that his present situation should have been irritating to him. If there was one thing in life that goaded him normally it was when someone argued with him, even when that someone was a pretty woman. Listening to Chloe arguing with him however was like a game, a simple and uncomplicated game which was far more fun than it should have been. He grinned at her. “I can’t just be concerned?”

She turned to him, her mouth having fallen open a little way. “Let me get this right? You being here – this whole charade – have been some sort of way to find out whether I’m going to treat your brother right?”

“What? No&#33;”

She slammed down a knife that she had been holding onto the countertop. “I’m confused now.”

“What I meant is that I’m concerned about you.”

“That doesn’t help clear the confusion up. If anything it actually makes it worse. You certainly haven’t cared about any of Lex’s old flames so why should you care about me?”

“You’re… different,” he said growing increasingly uncomfortable. When he decided to call by that day he certainly had not expected her to question him so openly. She’s a reporter, he reminded himself abruptly. If you had expected one thing it was that she would question you.

“Different isn’t always a better thing.”

“It is in your case,” he said softly.

“Can you just stop that for a moment?” she asked.

Intrigued he turned so that he was facing her, sliding a hand along the counter until he was lightly touching her waist. “Stop what?”

Her hand covered his abruptly and pushed it away. “That,” she said dryly.

“You’re not giving me a chance here.”

“Lucas there isn’t a chance for you to have in the first place.”

“There’s always a chance,” he said with a grin.

“You just don’t give up do you?”

“It normally doesn’t pay to.”

“Lucas,” she said very calmly though there was a small vein on her temple which suggested she was anything but entirely calm. “Nothing is going to happen.”

He grinned at her knowingly and she sighed loudly before turning away from him again. “Okay, okay. If you say so-“

“I do.”

“Well then until you change your mind can you at least give in a cup of coffee before you throw me out?”

Chloe looked out of the corner of her eyes at him, disbelief once again shining in them. “It’s too early for this,” she mumbled more to herself than to him. Turning back to him she said, “One cup.”

* * * *

Lana was exactly where Lex had expected that she would be, standing behind the counter in the Talon with a bored expression painted on her features, a notepad by one hand with a pen lying on top of it and her elbows resting on the counter looking out into the coffee house. Her lips curled into a slight smile when he entered the room and walked towards the counter, hands still pushed deep inside his pockets and a strong hankering for a large coffee already growing in him. One or two of the patrons smiled at him as well as he passed but Lex only offered a very brief acknowledgement before he pulled himself onto one of the high stools at the counter and rested his hands on the warm surface.

“Let me guess,” Lana said. “Coffee?”

He nodded and said, “Black.”

“You look tired,” she said a moment later when she returned to the counter, a cup of hot coffee in one hand and what looked suspiciously like a pastry on a plate in the other.

“I am and I didn’t ask for that,” he told her pointing at the offending pastry.

“You didn’t but you’re getting it anyway. You need to put a bit of meat on your bones,” Lana told him with an appraising look and kindly smile on her features.

Lex stared at her in shock. “I *what*?” he asked.

“I know you have all those fancy chefs and such up at the mansion but really Lex, I think we both know by now that you’re not especially prompt at keeping to mealtimes and such so one little pastry won’t hurt – in fact it’ll probably help.”

He slammed his mouth shut as she pushed the plate further towards him, glanced at the pastry then back up at the woman who was looking at him expectantly. She had a particular look he was coming to recognise in her eyes that told him not to argue, this was married-Lana he was talking to and she was not to be argued with. Reaching forwards he broke off a piece of the pastry and quickly ate it. She appeared satisfied.

“So why do you look so tired… late night?” her lips curved into cheeky little smile.

“Not for the reasons you’re thinking,” he said dryly, lifting the coffee cup and taking a sip. It burned his lip for a moment then scolded his mouth leaving Lex wondering whether she was ever going to get the temperature settings right on the damn coffee maker.

Lex pushed down his momentary irritability and looked up at Lana’s questioning expression.

“You haven’t… you know, slept with her yet?”

He had to smile at the way that Lana’s voice had dropped to a whisper.

“No Lana, I haven’t.”

She frowned. “Why?”

“Please Lana,” he protested. “I managed to crack my ribs last night while doing this favour for you so I would appreciate a little patience. Besides, I thought we all agreed that I’d do this at my pace.”

“We did,” Lana said slowly, her eyes dropping down to the counter top. “I just… Chloe’s meant to be going home soon.”

“I think she might be sticking around for a while,” he told her confidently and Lana looked up with a small smile on her face.

“Really?”

“Yes,” he confirmed.

“Well I guess that’s a good thing at least. You know what with this taking so long… I was beginning to think that maybe there was something wrong.”

“Like what?” Lex asked and raised a questioning eyebrow.

The brunette blushed abruptly. “It doesn’t matter now…” she said. “I mean if you tell me everything is okay then I believe you.”

“Lana… If you think there is a problem then I want to know about it.”

She shook her head quickly trying to summon some semblance of the authority that she had shown him before. It was gone however and with one more carefully time question Lex managed to crack her.

Lana shifted uneasily on her feet before saying, “I want to make it perfectly clear that you pressurised me into saying this. Its just, well, I was starting to wonder whether all *those* rumours weren’t true after all and I think I’ll shut up now.”

“What rumours?”

She rolled her eyes plaintively. “Why did you have to go and ask that?” When he did not respond she added, “You know which rumours I mean anyway.”

“Lana, there have been many, many rumours concerning me.”

“True.” She went quiet and he was forced to prompt her further.

“So…”

Lana’s face creased into yet another frown. “The, you know, gay rumours.”

She said it like it was a secret that was known to everyone and that he had unfortunately apparently been left out of. The blush was back strong in her cheeks and yet at the same time there was something in her eyes which suggested she was interested in what his response would be.

“You thought I was gay?” he asked keeping his voice as mellow as he could manage.

“Well you haven’t exactly been living up to your reputation.”

“I can assure that I’m not and it’s been out of respect for you *friend* that I haven’t been living up to my reputation,” he said quickly, mildly amused that he still had a reputation as far as Lana was concerned after all the years he had known her.

Still, the look on confusion on her face was a little less than comforting.

“Is there some problem Lana?”

“No… not really.”

“What does that mean exactly?” He raised the coffee to his lips, wanting to cover up what he was certain was a disquieted expression on his face.

She shrugged slim shoulders quickly. “I’m just not sure that Chloe’s really looking for a relationship…” She stopped abruptly as Lex spat out his coffee and began to cough. It took him several seconds to gain control of himself again and in that time Lana went in search of a glass and water and came back again with it a moment later. Lex took it gratefully and sipped carefully - taking the time it took to get control of himself again to think over exactly what he was going to say. There had been something in Lana’s voice that suggested that she was unhappy with the idea that he would actually like Chloe enough to get into a relationship with her. It grated on him enough that he felt the first stirring of displeasure and yet at the same time he realised that if she was speaking of something that Chloe had actually related to her then… Lex shook himself, he didn’t believe that but if it meant keeping Lana happy in the meantime until she realised that what he was doing was right then it couldn’t hurt to go along with her.

“Lana,” he said the paused for a moment as the urge to cough passed over him. “I can promise you a long term relationship is not on mine or Chloe’s minds at this time.”

Lana nodded and let out what seemed like a relieved sigh. “Good because, you know… Oh speak of the devil.”

Lex look quickly over his shoulder, watching as a familiar figure entered the coffee house. Even before he realised it was happening a smile broke over his features, and then abruptly faltered again as he saw who was following Chloe into the room.

[Impress]

You know, I just don&#39;t think that update was long enough. ;) :biggrin:

Thanks for the wonderful posting. I like how Lex is realizing he&#39;s in danger of falling for Chloe. And I like the intro of Lucas. Can&#39;t wait to see how he plays into all of this.

[autumngold]

Wow&#33;&#33; Excellent update&#33;&#33; Poor Lex&#33;&#33; I think dating Chloe is hazardous to his health&#33;&#33; :biggrin: Thank you for not having Chloe fall for Lucas&#39; line&#33;&#33; I think he&#39;ll respect her more now&#33;&#33; Can&#39;t wait for more Chlexy goodness&#33;&#33; :puppyeyes: Please update soon&#33;&#33; :chlexsign4:

[Blackberry]

Lucas is so bloody persistent it scares me o_0

I&#39;m afraid of what will happen when Chloe finds out about Lex&#39;s agreement with Lana... -_-; sparks will definitely fly..... *meep*

Great, long update&#33; :) It was thoroughly enjoyable&#33; :D I patiently await the next one&#33; :)

BB

[scifichick774]

Wow, that was a long update. Now if only I can come up with the appropriate words for a review.

I love that Lex is falling for her and he recognizes this. I also like the fact that he&#39;s displeased with the fact that Lana doesn&#39;t seem to approve of him being in a longer relationship with Chloe other than sleeping with her.

The introduction of Lucas is almost always a good thing, and certainly this was no exception. You&#39;ve got his character down well. Arrogant, confident, slightly confused when his own reaction to being around Chloe wasn&#39;t what he thought it would be...nicely done.

I feel bad for Bruce. Here he is trying to be a good friend and she has to hang up on him because Lucas is making himself comfortable in her living room. Hopefully she can clear up that her budding relationship with Lex has nothing to do with any sort of business rivalry the two of them have.

At this point, I would normally request more soon, but I think you&#39;ve provided me with an adequate fix for a while. No longer than a month though or I&#39;ll start to get edgy. ;)

[hfce]

That was a nice long update. Now how can we get Lucas away from Chloe.... ;)




Hope :chlexsign1:

[Clannadlvr]

Wow. Fantastic, and huge, update&#33;

I have to second everything Kris said in her above review...you&#39;ve really got Lex, Lucas, and Bruce down very nicely and it&#39;s so interesting to read their varying reactions to Chloe. Nicely done.

I&#39;m intrigued as to whether we&#39;ll see Bruce in Smallville...pretty please? I&#39;d love to see Lex&#39;s reaction to him- we know he&#39;s stil unsure of what Bruce means to Chloe- and Bruce&#39;s reactions to Lex&#39;s obviously growing serious interest in our favorite reporter.

Great job, and I can&#39;t wait to see where you take this&#33;

[LarkLuthor]

Wonderfully long update&#33; Thank you, thank you, thank you&#33; Do it again soon though okay? It doesn&#39;t have to be that long just not a really long wait. Please?

That Luthorlet is a deranged puppy dog. There is just no other way to discribe him. And Bruce is such a smarty, he knows Lex is after info. Although Lex is smarter&#33; Sorry, I found this chart on this one site that that DC charaters intellegence, and ones for strength and all sorts of other fun facts too. A lovely geeky haven of info.

Lark

[tigroon]

Wonderful update. Did you do it on purpose ? the living up to its title I mean.

[hickchick]

thanks for the very long update&#33; :)

i can&#39;t wait to see what&#39;s going to happen and how everything&#39;s going to play out.

please update soon.

[michelle_19781997]

Wow&#33; That was one huge update. This just might be the happiest day of my life.

[campbti]

What an amazing update. I love this story. I can&#39;t wait to find out more about her relationship with Bruce and what the hell is Lucas doing. I like Lex/Chloe together, I want it to work out, but I see trouble in the future. Not too angsty ok. :blinkkiss:

Really great work, loved the skating... MORE WHEN YOU CAN&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33; :yay:

[Béatrice]

that was a fabulous update. Bruce... Lucas... Lex and Chloe kissing. Thanks&#33; :chlexsign3:

[marrycherry]

that was an amazing update......i spend like an hour reading all but it was worth it&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33; great job......i just wanna see Lucas playing with them when he founds out what the business is about :worship2: :worship2:

:chlexsign4:

[HumbugGirl]

23.

“You didn’t have to drive me,” Chloe said as she slammed the door of Lucas’ car. The Luthor in question was watching her, his eyes shinning with mischief and his arms resting on the low roof of his car in such a way that Chloe got the impression he knew just how much he was managing to irritate her.

“I wanted to.”

“Yeah, but now I’m stranded here.”

He chuckled. “Strangely enough that doesn’t worry me too much – it only means that I get to drive you home again.”

Chloe shook her head and stepped away from the car. “I’m sure I can manage and I don’t want to hold you up… Don’t you have something to do that’s no-good and dangerous?”

Lucas shook his head quickly and strode around the car with a level of authority that only a Luthor could ever possess. He fell into step beside her as they crossed the last few metres to the doorway of the Talon revealing to Chloe that he had no intention of going anywhere that did not include her somewhere in the scenery. She resisted the urge to snap at him reasoning that the moment she stepped anywhere near Lana then he would get fed up and go away anyway, either that or he would decide that her plan for the day really was as boring as she had warned him it would be and then he would scurry off to look for something more interesting to do. Or more likely in Lucas’ case someone who was more interesting to bug.

He opened the door for her, playing the gentleman which she knew for a fact he was not and stepping aside in order to let her pass him. Chloe rolled her eyes at him for what felt like the hundredth time since he had turned up at her Dad’s place that morning and slipped inside. She did not pause, just continued to walk through the coffee house until her eyes landed on the person sat at the counter. A smile flitted onto her lips that couldn’t even be broken by Lucas reappearing at her side and putting an arm about her waist. Chloe shook it off though the damage appeared to already have been done as she watched what had previously seemed like a comparatively happy expression on Lex’s features fall away into something that was distinctly less pleasant to see.

Damn.

She pushed the thought down, opting instead to ignore Lucas’ very existence for the moment and concentrate on Lex. Taking a series of short quick steps she crossed the room with Lucas hot on her heals even if he was forgotten about and walked straight up to the elder of the two Luthors in the room.

“Hey,” she said with a broad grin and impulsively touched his arm, pressing on it lightly as she took another leap of faith and pressed her lips briefly to his cheek, strategically placed just a little way to one side of his lips.

There might have been a shocked pause in the rest of the room but Chloe didn’t notice. She was far too concentrated on the feeling of Lex’s cheek under her sensitive lips to think about what the rest of the world might be doing at that moment – not even when the rest of the world involved Lana drawing in a gasp and letting a satisfied expression glide onto her face. Briefly she wondered whether Lex was not going to bother to respond and then she felt his arm shift under her fingers, going to her waist and resting there lightly while his face shifted and their lips came together even if it was only for the shortest of moments. It was enough to make her smile as a warm glow settled in her chest.

“Hey,” Lex answered softly when he moved his face away from hers.

“How are you feeling?”

“A little sore – a little stiff,” he answered honestly.

A chuckle of laughter filled the air around them and the pair shifted her heads to look at Lucas. “And here I was thinking you two hadn’t let things get that far yet.”

A blush threatened on Chloe’s cheeks and she found herself having to search for something to say in response. Luckily for her Lex had far more experience dealing with his brother than she had and as such quickly responded. His face turned impassive and he said, “Lucas, and just what brings you here?”

“Oh I gave Chloe here a lift.”

Lex raised a questioning eyebrow.

“She was kind enough to give me breakfast this morning,” Lucas continued causing Lex’s eyebrow to go further northwards as he did so. Chloe scowled at the younger Luthor and stepped in before he could come out with anymore vague comments.

“What Lucas means is that he somehow managed to talk his way past my father this morning to be there when I wandered downstairs.”

Contrary to the effect that Chloe had been expected Lex shot his brother another questioning look which left her with almost as many questions as he seemed to have at that time. Lucas seemed to brush it off easily enough however with shrug as he turned away and surprisingly seemed to search out Lana. A hundred other little questions flared in Chloe’s mind and she turned back to Lex finding that he was studying her intensely; his eyes focused steadily on what appeared to be the line of her jaw.

Chloe gave a quirky little smile which shook his out of whatever it was he had been thinking about. He looked up, their eyes meeting and what seemed to be a very honest and pure smile coming to his features as he reached up and brushed her hair behind her ear on one side of her head.

“I hope my brother hasn’t been bugging you too much.”

“Nothing I can’t handle,” Chloe replied with a shrug of her shoulders.

“Sure?”

“Positive. He’s a pain but not as big as some others I’ve come across.”

Lex nodded his head slowly. “Good. But just tell me if he does become a nuisance and I’ll set him straight. Did he happen to mention why he decided to call on you this morning?”

A flicker of nerves filtered through Chloe. There was no way in hell that she could tell him the *real* reason that Lucas had apparently called by that morning. If she had been right in the first place and the only reason that he had dropped by was to draw her into some sort of game then telling Lex that Lucas was apparently interested in her as well – whether because of one of their fucked up games or otherwise – was certainly not a good idea. “I think he’s a little concerned,” Chloe said with a smile. “I think he might even be concerned for your wellbeing actually.”

Lex didn’t look convinced. She hadn’t expected that he would but he choose not to question he further. “And what brought you to Talon?”

“I was trying to shake him loose.”

Lex chuckled briefly though the smile that accompanied it failed to slip from his lips. “And?”

“And my Dad is off seeing his friends – again. I swear that man has a better social life than I have ever had.”

“So you’re not tied up for the day?” Lex asked, blue eyes dancing speculatively.

“I guess. What did you have in mind?”

“Well since last night was such a disaster I thought we might spend today together.”

“I thought you’d want some time to yourself today,” Chloe said.

“Why?”

“Well there is this whole world of work that you must be getting behind on,” she suggested.

“It can wait,” he said, surprising her as he did so. Lex did not and had not ever struck her as the sort of person who left his work to other people or who put off until tomorrow what could have been done today. And yet here he was, sat before her and proposing that they spend the day together. It brought yet another smile to her lips.

“What did you have in mind?” she asked.

“Nothing too adventurous,” Lex said with a knowing expression. “Not after last night but I think we can find something to do back at the mansion.”

A multitude of thoughts rushed through Chloe’s mind, most of them far too naughty for her to even consider mentioning to Lex right at that moment. She pushed them down, pretending to think over what it was that he was suggesting by tilting her head to one side. “Okay.”

“Good.”

“Well if nothing else it will stop me having to get a lift home with Lucas.”

“Is that your only reason?” he asked with a speculative gleam in his eyes.

“Might be,” she said playfully.

“Well then I feel quite used.”

Chloe reached up, patting his cheek with the same air of playfulness she had exhibited moments before. “Good. I’m glad to see we’re on the same line of thought.”

“I’m hurt.”

“No you’re not.”

“What makes you think that?”

“Because you’re too interested in where we’re going and perhaps even because you’ve got other reasons to be interested as well.” The moment the words were out of Chloe’s mouth she wished she hadn’t spoken them. Something came over Lex’s features; they seemed to go suddenly soft, almost betrayed even. A second later however and the old Lex she knew was back with a challenging look to his eyes.

“I assure you Chloe that any ulterior motives that I have will be far from unpleasant for you.”

Anything that she might have been about to say stopped short in Chloe’s thoughts. His meaning was utterly clear and before she could stop herself Chloe found herself saying, “You’ve just given me a reason to agree then.”


24.

There had been a characteristic tightening of Lex’s features that told Lucas that later he would find himself in for one hell of a telling off. In other circumstances – or should he say where other people were concerned – then that one look alone might have been enough to send someone scurrying away in fear but Lucas knew his brother, he knew that above all else Lex valued his existence and that meant he would never do something too permanent no matter how much the younger of the two tried to piss the elder of the too off. Even if that something meant disturbing whatever careful plans his brother had put in motion as far as Chloe was concerned – something that he still planned on finding out about anyway.

As it was at the moment however Lucas realised that he was in no immediate danger from his brother because in the space of twenty seconds Chloe had somehow managed to dispel every single iota of displeasure that had lingered in his brother’s expression with one tiny kiss. Lucas watched in wonder as the pair conversed easily a few feet away, still aware that it was probable that he was still going to find himself on the receiving end of Lex’s irritation later but overwhelmed that Lex could be so easily distracted.

“Well aren’t they just adorable,” he said as the couple stood up, appearing to be overly involved in each other’s presence and went to leave the coffee house with only a passing farewell as they went.

“Yeah, I guess,” Lana said. Something in her tone made Lucas turn and look at her with a speculative look in his eyes as he waited for her to elaborate. Lana shook her head a little when she noticed his look and then said, “I’m not sure that’s such a good thing.”

Lucas twisted so that his elbows were rested on the countertop between them. “Oh?”

“It’s nothing…”

“Lana,” he said, lowering his voice and trying to sound as sincere as possible as he did so.

“I really can’t say,” she said.

“If it’s anything to do with my brother…” he said and let the comment trail off.

“I don’t know… Though I suppose Lex is your brother and it isn’t even as if you know Chloe at all really so I guess it couldn’t really hurt.” She stopped short, as if realising that she had been speaking aloud for the first time. Casting a somewhat shy glance in his direction she added, “Although I don’t know whether I should trust you.”

Lucas kept his features stoic, if anything erring on the side of encouraging. “Lana, I’m a Luthor but I’m more of Lex’s ilk than my fathers… I’m not going to go and shout my brothers business from the rooftops.”

She shifted around, firstly from one foot to the other and then rolling her shoulders as if trying to decide something which was far more difficult than he could ever have imagined. Lucas was careful not to let any emotion show on his features, knowing that Lana really didn’t trust him whatever she said and that the probability was that he wasn’t going to change her mind anytime soon on that account.

“We made a deal,” she said suddenly ripping him out of his thoughts.

“Relating to Chloe?” he guessed and watched as she nodded her agreement.

“Chloe hasn’t… She hasn’t exactly been…” Lana paused, her delicate features screwing into a ball of displeasure as she clearly tried to organise her thoughts and left him guessing while she did so. “Chloe doesn’t have the best luck with men,” she said finally. Lucas was left gawping though she had no way of telling that from the expression on his features.

“You *have* set them up?&#33;” he exclaimed though in truth he was not that surprised. Lana might have denied mightily her matchmaking the day before but that did not mean that Lucas had believed her.

“Yes… no… not exactly. Lex sort of agreed to it – as a favour.”

Her answer did nothing to stop the sense of amazement which was still filtering through Lucas. He stared at her as thoughts flickered through his mind, primarily as he tried to figure out why Lex would agree to such a favour beyond what Lucas could see as the obvious advantages.

A light bulb abruptly flared to life in Lucas’s mind. Suddenly he could see exactly why Lex had been trying to keep him away from Chloe as the realisation hit that his brother did not want him around so that he could concentrate his full attention on Chloe and make sure that her full attention was focused on him in turn. The idea appealed to Lucas, to his sense of self belief as he realised what a threat he might be to his brother’s plans if he were to continue to take an interest in Chloe. The fact that she had knocked him back that morning was a fact but not an unassailable one. If he *really* wanted to then Lucas was certain that he could work his way around her objections.

But there was still the question of exactly why Lex was putting so much of his time into Chloe when there were certainly much larger things for him to be concerned about.

“Lucas?” he heard Lana call and realised he must have drifted off for a few moments. Glancing up he realised she was looking at him rather nervously.

He grinned at her. “Nothing to worry about Lana. I’m not going to say anything to Chloe.”

She smiled at him broadly then sighed. “Good. I mean, that’s good because Chloe would be really mad with us.”

“Us? I take it Clark and Pete are in on this too.”

“Yeah.” She sighed again. “It’s actually feels pretty good that I’ve said something to someone.”

He raised an eyebrow at her. “You don’t sound completely happy with the situation.”

She shrugged her shoulders quickly. “I don’t know. I just didn’t expect Lex to seem as interested at he seems to be. Chloe has a good life in Gotham and I would hate to think she would give that up to be around him because of me because Lex…”

“Doesn’t have the best track record with women?” Lucas finished for her and watched as Lana nodded once again. “I don’t think that’s what he has in mind,” he told her.

“You don’t?”

“No. He likes her but I don’t think he wants anything that serious.”

“Well that’s fine just as long as Chloe knows it too I guess,” Lana said. She cocked her had to one side looking oddly satisfied with herself. “You know something Lucas; it’s been good talking about this with you. Unexpected but good.”

“Thank you,” he said dryly even as he realised something potentially horrifying. He had apparently just made friends with Lana Ross.

* * * *

“You know we could have just asked Lana to fire up the machine in Talon,” Chloe said as she settled onto the plush leather couch next to Lex. He rolled his head to one side and looked at her sceptically. “It would have been much more cinema like,” she said.

“Are you complaining because my television isn’t big enough?” Lex asked wryly.

The blonde reporter looked aside at the screen and shook her head. “Oh no, certainly not. I’m just saying that we could have done this there. Lana has all these movies packed away in the screening room.”

Lex smirked at her, a predatory look seeping into his eyes as he did so. “Chloe Sullivan are you nervous at being alone with me?”

Chloe shook her head rapidly even though there was the lingering suspicion settling in her that Lex might actually be right. She didn’t have any particular reason to be nervous but she was. Being alone with Lex after the night before was tantamount to admitting to him openly that she was interested in taking things even further between them and even though she knew that she did in fact want to do so admitting it to Lex was like walking into the situation with her clothes off.

You really should have thought about that before agreeing to coming out here, Chloe thought. Almost scolding herself in fact.

“Nervous of you?” she said realising she had been quiet for far too long. “Lex there is no way in hell I’m nervous of you.”

He grinned at her once again, shifting a little closer and saying in a low voice, “You sure?”

“I’m sure.”

The billionaire settled back against the couch once more, slumped in a position she had never imagined that she would see him in. It was far too relaxed – quite un-Lex like really. Even as she watched him Lex reached for the bowl between them and pulled out a handful of popcorn.

“Would you really rather have stayed in town then?” he asked after a moment.

“What? Oh, no.”

“I just thought we would be a little more comfortable here…”

“Away from the prying eyes of Smallville’s gossips?” Chloe anticipated.

“Something like that although I was thinking more along the line of my ribs.”

Chloe’s features creased into a frown and she glanced down at the aforementioned region of his body. “How are they?”

Lex brought his hand up and rested it on the offending area. “A little better I suppose. I have noticed something however,” he added. “Every time we’ve been out together so far I’ve ended up getting injured.”

“No you haven’t…” Chloe began and then stopped as her mind rolled back over the last few days. She visibly winced. “Okay, maybe you have. It’s your own fault though.”

He raised his eyebrows charmingly. “How so?”

“You risked the curse.”

“And which curse would that be?”

“The one which says that every man I show even the slightest bit of interest in ends up getting hurt in one way or another.”

He waved a hand towards his ribs. “I take it you mean that literally.”

“’Fraid so. Sorry. I’m thinking of getting a hazard warning sticker or something.”

Lex’s lips curved into an endearing little smile that functioned to put Chloe at ease. This was Lex Luthor she realised. But it wasn’t the billionaire businessman or the predator but the man who was her friend that she could remember from the old days back in Smallville. Of course that Lex had been significantly more distant but Chloe still recognised the old friendly glimmer in his eyes.

“That might be a good idea,” he said. “Although not so much so in the immediate. Perhaps if you were inclined to then you might offer something in the way of compensation to you victims.”

“Oh?” She shifted soundlessly on the soft leather of the couch.

“Perhaps a little kiss – just to make it better.”

Chloe drew in a quick breath and tried to appear as if she was contemplating the idea. “I might be able to manage that,” she told him leaning over and pressing her lips tightly against his until she felt him respond.

As she drew back he said, “I don’t believe I was hurt there.”

“Preventative measures,” Chloe told him softly, a little amazed at how natural it felt to find herself in her current position. Lucas could go jump off a cliff if he imagined she was going to give this up and Bruce clearly did not understand the man she was next to.

“Chloe,” he said, shaking her from her thoughts even as he laced fingers into her hair, letting it fall around the digits. He appeared too serious she decided quickly and the next words that emerged from him did nothing to change that fact. “You understand where I want this to go don’t you?”

“Of course,” she answered.

“Any you comprehend the consequences?”

Moving aside the bowl of popcorn Chloe moved closer to him while saying, “I want the consequences.”

The man before her seemed to catch his breath and hold it for a few seconds. “Are you sure?”

“One-hundred percent positive,” she told him even as she realised it was the truth. The thought almost made her laugh. Less than a week ago she had been telling Lana that it was impossible for her to find a guy who she could have a relationship with on all levels and all the while he had been holed up in her hometown. She wasn’t naïve enough to let herself believe he was the perfect man but he was there and he seemed to be as keen on the idea as she was.

Nerves flickered through Chloe’s belly as she tried to ignore one particular apprehension which had taken root at the back of her mind. This was Lex she felt obliged to remind herself. And if there was one thing she knew about him then it was that he was going to be a hell of a lot more experienced than she was especially considering that one of the most uncomfortable truths that Chloe had managed to keep secret about herself was her virginity.

Abruptly that one secret felt far larger than she was. The muscles in her back tensed, doubt crept into her expression and Chloe drew away from him even as she watched blue eyes studying her carefully.

“Chloe,” he said softly, that one word forcing her to her feet as a flood of nervous energy poured through her. Lex followed her to his feet and the blonde found herself taking a step away from him. She opened her mouth to make an excuse and founded herself shocked to find that he had grabbed hold of her wrist and was tugging her forwards into his arms. Chloe collided with Lex’s chest even as his lips found hers.

Abruptly her concerns didn’t seem quite so significant anymore.


25.

The moment Chloe had opened her mouth Lex had known she was going to object just as he knew she did not really want to and it was just nerves affecting her judgement. Not even having to pause to think he had stepped towards her and pulled them together while pushing aside the irritating objections that had so recently been affecting him. Deal with their friends aside Lex had realised something incredible in the past few minutes – somewhere along the line he had developed genuine feelings for Chloe and he wasn’t about to let the opportunity to act on them slip away from him.

Action was his friend and within seconds Lex found himself firmly kissing away any doubts Chloe may have been experiencing. She didn’t make even the tiniest movement to break away from him. Instead he found her pressing all the harder against him, her smaller body trembling as she furiously returned his kiss. There was something almost desperate about the way that she was clinging to him though Lex realised in seconds that he was clinging to her in a similar fashion, hands going to her waist and gliding around to the curve of her back.

The difference in their height forced Chloe to her toes and Lex found himself taking as much of her weight as he could manage while manoeuvring her backwards towards the couch. Chloe offered no resistance to the movement, even as her the back of her knees hit the low seat and Lex gently lowered her down onto the cushions. They sank under the couple’s combined weight as Chloe shuffled around to allow him room to settle just next to her, covering her smaller frame ever so slightly with one thigh tucked a little way between Chloe’s legs.

She felt hot under his fingers as he slipped them under the hem of her sweater, the skin smooth just as he remembered it and as tempting as always. Chloe wriggled against him, daring him to push the material up further and he did so, exposing the flat expanse of her stomach. As his hand found one lace covered mound of heated flesh Chloe was reaching down between them and tackling the buttons on his shirt as far down as her hand would go from that one angle. Lex found himself groaning a little as she moved one hand inside the parted material, tenderly running sharp little nails over the flesh there until she found one pebbled nipple. His breath caught in his throat as nipped even as her lips began a new assault on his.

He found himself abandoning his exploration of her chest, opting instead to shift and resettle over her so that Chloe could feel his full weight bearing down on her. Instinctively she moved to accommodate him, parting her jean-clad legs so that Lex slid down her body a small way. He was laid low on her body when they came to a halt with Chloe pushing his shirt down off his shoulders without even the slightest hint of hesitation. On the contrary there was something so confident about her actions, about the way in which he could feel her body rising and falling underneath him as she drew in long excited shuddering breathes that called to an all together primal part of him. Forgetting his usual calm and collected nature Lex lowered his face from looking into lust filled green eyes and down to the sweater that was tickling his chin. He reached down, roughly pushing it up until he found himself confronted with blue lace and pale flesh quivering slightly as Chloe finished his work and rid herself of the top once and for all.

When her arms came back down her hands came to rest on his shoulders even as Lex lowered his face once more, nuzzling the freshly revealed flesh and letting his tongue dart out to taste her. She shuddered a little again as he left a fine wet trail across the surface of her skin, swirling patterns and occasionally blowing cool air while listening to her sigh and feeling her press just the tiniest bit harder with her nails. Chloe herself was mirroring his actions, tracing designs first over his shoulders and then over the soft skin at the back of his neck until she caught the delicate flesh of his scalp with a touch which was making it increasingly difficult not to loose control of himself entirely and throw himself thoughtlessly into his actions. Already he was hard and ready, pressing against the unyielding leather of the couch when he would much rather have preferred to be pressing against her even with the irritating presence of her jeans still in the way. A constant niggling thought at the back of his mind made him slow however, made him nudge aside the lacy scraps of material covering her breasts after slipping the straps down from her shoulders.

Bared to the air a line of tension ran through Chloe’s body. For a second she seemed rather self-conscious though Lex choose to ignore the fact knowing that there was no reason for her to be so and that Chloe would realise it soon enough. She was beautiful, plain and simple and he wasn’t going to justify any doubts she might have been having by acknowledging that he realised she was even remotely worried about the fact. So in response to her tension he once more let his tongue dart out to find one rosy pink nipple and drew it into his mouth. He sucked, stroking the sensitive nub and listening as Chloe’s breathing grew marginally heavier.

As she curled a foot around his calve, sliding it upwards and downwards, creating a rhythmic gentle motion, Chloe reached down and took hold of his face with both hands. She cupped his cheeks and drew him upwards, away from his administrations and pushed herself up against him teasingly. The pressure he had wanted was abruptly there making Lex hiss as she ground her hips against him, pushing him into action even before he entirely knew what he was doing.

He pulled away and grabbed the waistband of her jeans, flicking the button open with him thumb and pulling the zip down quickly. Taking hold of them he pulled them downwards even as Chloe raised her pelvis and allowed him to slide them over her hips and down her legs. Lex was kneeling when he eventually managed to get rid of the damn things and threw them away barely a second later. He didn’t pause, just descended on her once again kissing a line down over her stomach until he reached the line where her panties cut across her flesh. Even as he did so Chloe had pushed herself into a sitting position just long enough for her to unfasten the bra and discard it onto the floor before he pressed her back down into a lying position in order to tackle the remainder of her clothes. He pushed the material away with his fingers to find himself encountering a soft mat of honey blonde hair, damp and glistening and waiting for him to explore further.

She gasped when he initially ran one tentative finger over the heated slit then experimentally pressed it inside. His digit slipped easily inside, gliding over the slick wetness seeping from her and becoming enveloped in almost addictive warmth. He pushed further then added a further finger, rotating his fingers and stretching out her walls as he did so. Glancing up he once again found himself staring into lust-idled eyes and realised abruptly that what was happening between them in that moment wasn’t about drawing out the experience. Chloe wasn’t interested in making it a game like most of the women he encountered where they both fought to see who could come out on top. Chloe just wanted him, she wanted to have him inside her and that one thought sent a possessive shiver through Lex that was impossible to ignore. He reached down, quickly unfastening his slacks and reaching to discard himself of his shorts only to be stopped by the sound of Chloe’s voice.

”Before you do that shouldn’t you go find… um… something.”

He looked at her in shock for a moment before catching her meaning and scolding himself internally. “Just a second,” he said pushing away from the couch and looking around the room until he located the jacket that he had discarded earlier when they had arrived at the mansion. Inside one of the inner pockets he found his wallet, fumbling with it for a moment before managing to gain access to the inside and coming up with the small foil packet he had been looking for.

He felt foolish rushing back to her, entirely unlike himself and that was perhaps why he caught himself so unawares when he found himself looking down at her. Chloe blushed brightly as she realised why he had stopped, shifting pushing herself into a sitting position while trying to remain appearing confident.

“Quit staring and come on,” she said bashfully, spurring him into action as he did so. Lex kicked off his shorts, sitting back on the couch next to her and rolling the condom onto his cock. Chloe sidled closer to him, leaning down to press a line of kisses along his jaw as he did so and teasing him with her proximity. The second he was finished Lex took hold of her arm, drawing her further onto the couch until she was kneeling on it. Reaching down he took hold of her thigh, pulling it across his body so that she found she was straddling his legs.

Chloe’s eyes were wide and her lips parted slightly even as she brought her arms up to rest on his shoulders and allowed herself to be drawn further forwards. It seemed so odd, guiding her as he did and yet there was no clumsiness in her actions as she realised what he wanted and lifted herself up. Raised up as she was the blonde’s chest was once again at his eye line and Lex folded his arms around his back so he could press his face into the soft mass.

She was trembling, nervous perhaps and he rubbed slow strong circles on her back until he felt the wild erratic beating of her heart calm some before letting his hands glide down to cup her buttocks and squeezing just a little. As he slumped down he once again took hold of her hips and guided her downwards until he could feel his cock brushing against her wet entrance. It was hot, impossibly hot and for a second his thoughts were clouded with nothing but a desire to feel that heat all around him, quickly, rapidly without any other thought. Chloe surprised him then, pushing herself lower slowly until he was inside her, buried deeply with air exploding out of his body even as the blonde let out a small cry.

For a second they rested against each other, holding their position and breathing in time then Lex took control, thrusting up just a little. She gasped, biting her lip and peering at him cautiously before raising herself up just a little and pushing down again a little more sharply this time. He met her movement and instinctively, naturally they fell into a rhythm of rises and falls that brought about a delicious friction.

The blonde woman before him, riding him with her head fallen backwards, was smiling lazily. There was a look on her features that told him all he needed to know about just how much she was enjoying their coupling the same way that the manner in which she thrust her chest out proudly towards him and clenched his cock with increasing ferocity did. He didn’t need to hear the low murmurs of ‘oh god’ as she continued to do so or the flush which was already spattering her body deepened to tell him she was close to orgasm though had not quite reached it and in what he considered amazing self control as he watched a slightly tortured expression appear on her face he reached down between them, found her clit and flicked his fingers against the swollen nubbin.

Chloe came with a cry that almost sounded as if she were surprised, twitching around him and drawing in a huge draught of air. Her body shaking as she slumped forwards as Lex finally gave in, letting go and letting his own orgasm reverberate through his body. Not for one second however did he fail to notice the manner in which he continued to cling to him and feeling oddly protective he took hold of her shoulders and pulled her tightly into an embrace.

[HumbugGirl]

26.

She was awake even before she opened her eyes. Indeed she had already rolled over onto her side, sinking deeper into the mattress as she did so, by the time she did open them and found herself staring at an unexpectedly empty bed. Reflectively Chloe’s hand slid along the mattress and into the space that should have been occupied by Lex, finding the sheets still warm where he had been beneath the thick covers. At least she knew he hadn’t been gone too long.

The thought made Chloe frown. She shouldn’t have been alone at all. Lex should still have been lying next to her, maybe even asleep so that she could watch his sleeping features with some deep sense of satisfaction nestling in her chest.

A sigh escaped her. He probably had an absolutely brilliant reason to leave her alone after they had spent their first night together… well, most of their first night and half of the previous day she thought with a smile after glancing briefly at the bedside clock. Still, it felt lonely laying in the big old bed all by herself and after listening for a few seconds to see whether she could hear some sounds from the bathroom and hearing none Chloe pushed herself into a sitting position with the undeniable urge filling her to find out where he had gone. Climbing out of the bed she spied Lex’s shirt thrown carelessly onto the floor from when they had scurried upstairs. Feeling more than a little mischievous Chloe reached for it, slipping it on and finding herself pleased with the way the material hung down to her mid-thighs. Now all she had to hope was that she didn’t run into anyone while hunting around for Lex and everything would be perfect.

Creeping over to the doorway she peered outside into the hallway, looking up and down and making sure there was no one in sight. Stepping outside she hurried along the soft carpet, descending the stairs as quickly as she could and heading towards Lex’s office – if there was one thing that she had guessed about Lex by now it was that if you wanted to hunt him down then he would most likely be in his natural habitat. A smile crept onto her features as a thought occurred to her; that would make three rooms in the mansion if she had her way.

She stopped short of the office door however. There were familiar voices coming from inside and neither of them seemed exactly happy. Chloe’s journalistic instincts raised their headed and scented the air. She moved forwards, slightly on her tiptoes, towards the door. Once there Chloe leaned forwards, bracing herself so that she would not make the crack widen and put her eye to it. Through the gap she could see the back of Lex’s dressing gown. The man himself was stood a few feet away from his desk and beside him was the owner of the other voice she had recognised from down the hallway. From what little she could see Lucas looked his usual arrogant self and that was probably the reason that Lex sounded so irritated with him.

“I don’t know why you’re so worried,” Lucas said. “I mean *I’m* not going to tell her.”

Lex shifted from one foot to the other, reaching forwards to take some file that Lucas was holding off him. “That I’m somewhat sceptical about.”

“Lex, I just happen to think that what you’re up to… well I think it’s a little below even you.”

“And when did you develop such an acute social conscience?” the elder brother asked.

Lucas guffawed. “You’re one to talk about conscience – didn’t you just sleep with a woman because her friends asked you to?”

“That’s not the only reason.”

“Oh I forgot there’s her connection to Bruce Wayne as well. I suppose that’s a little more in keeping with the Luthor code of ethics.”

The door creaked and abruptly Chloe realised she had been leaning on it a little too hard in her shock. The fact was she could hardly feel her own body. Stumbling forwards a little way, pushing the door open further and finding herself stood out in the open she realised she was feeling numb. Worse yet she couldn’t breathe and when she did manage it then her breath came in huge wheezing gasps that the men in the room could certainly hear. Indeed they had turned to look at her, faces distinctly impassive, indeed almost lifeless. Chloe herself looked far from lifeless. Even as she caught control of her breath she realised that her eyes had widened in anger and that she seemed to be grinding her teeth together. Some distant part of her was aware that Lex had just said her name, that he was taking a step towards her. It was all she needed to spur her into action and barely a heartbeat later Chloe had turned and was rushing always from the office.

* * * *

A polite little knock on his bedroom door had woken him and then a whispered voice speaking words he had not quite been able to hear. Seconds later Lex had been at the door, watching and listening carefully as one of his in-house security guards told him that Lucas was currently down in his office sneaking around. It was certainly not something he had wanted to hear right at that moment, especially as thoughts of just what he had left laying around down there filled his mind. Seconds later Lex had been heading downstairs himself and stalking in the direction of his office. As he had feared he found Lucas sat behind his desk reading over one of the more recent reports he had been given on Bruce Wayne and his association with Chloe.

He knew he shouldn’t have been surprised but he was. Lucas had been sneaking around and doing what Lucas did best – making a nuisance of himself and he knew that he should have trusted his initial instincts when they told him that his brother wasn’t just going to accept his excuses as to why he was getting involved with Chloe. To find him glancing over the files with a triumphant gleam in his eyes and a knowing smirk as he looked up when Lex entered the room was the moment when it truly hit home however that he had fucked up.

To find that Chloe was stood behind him, listening as they talked however was just the icing on the cake. He watched her hurry from the room, such anger and pain painted on her features that for a second Lex truly despised himself for knowing that he was the cause.

Glancing back briefly over his shoulder and glaring at his brother Lex said, “I’ll deal with you later,” and then hurried after the retreating figure of the blonde woman, hoping desperately that it wasn’t too late to convince her that what she thought she had seen and heard was not actually the case. Even the thought that he might be able to do so was hope inspiring and yet at the same time there was the dull ache of knowledge in Lex’s heart that Chloe probably wouldn’t believe a single word he said to her. No doubt after last night, after the time they had spent together she had been somewhat nervous and insecure about seeing him about anyway and all her fears had probably been confirmed by what she had heard. Damn Lucas for not knowing when to keep his nose out of something – especially since Lex had decided that the something that had made him think about Chloe in the first place was not the reason he had ended up with her at all.

Maybe he would be able to find a nice quiet monastery to lock his devious younger brother up in for the next fifty years.

He had to stop and take a deep breath before he could actually enter the bedroom where he knew Chloe had headed. No doubt the blonde was already pulling on her clothes and wondering what would be the quickest way to get off his estate and his turning up breathing heavily and looking panicked would certainly not do anything to improve the changes that she would change her mind and stay to here his side of things – not that he was entirely certain what that was yet.

He stopped in the doorway, eyes caught by the sight of Chloe sitting in a slumped position on the edge of the bed. As he had feared she had already dragged on her clothes and was now apparently finding some difficulty with doing the same with her shoes. She seemed to give up, rising into a sitting position that was marginally more upright and resting the shoe she had been grappling with in her lap.

“Are you even going to give me a chance to explain?” he asked softly.

Eyes bright with anger turned on him. “There can not be a possible explanation for what I just heard.”

“You’re going to believe my brother over me?” Lex asked though Chloe was not to be interrupted.

“I knew that there had to be something – I suspected it from the start but I thought that perhaps you had changed your mind or… something.”

“I did-“ he tried to say.

“And when Lucas came by… well I should spent a little more time thinking about why it was exactly he was there instead of listening to that cock and bull story he tried to feed me and wondering whether I was going to get to see you…”

“Damn it Chloe&#33;” he explained, frustration suddenly rippling through him in none too small a wave. Striding across the room he grabbed a hold of the shoe she had once again begun to fit onto her foot and took it away from her.

“Give me that,” Chloe hissed low under her breath.

“Not until you listen to me.”

She climbed to her feet and tried to take the shoe from him, only prompting Lex to hold it above his head and out of her reach. “Lex I’m serious,” she said finally.

“So am I.”

She looked at him steadily and Lex knew instinctively that she was mulling over some other course of action. Putting a defiant look into her eyes she pushed past him, walking toward the door and leaving him holding her shoe. “Goodbye Lex.”

He stood still for a second, shocked at the sight of Chloe limping away from him in only one shoe. He honestly could not think of one other person who would have dared to do as she had just done and it stunned him into inaction for a moment. Fingers tightening around the shoe he was holding he took off after her and arrived at the head of the stairs just in time to see that Chloe had located her coat and that Lucas was making an effort to intercept her. His brother actually looked concerned, almost as if he might actually regret his earlier actions as he took a step towards the irate looking woman. From what Lex could hear as he hurried down the stairs however his brother had no more luck that he did and after a particularly biting remark Chloe flung open the front door and stepped outside.

“Where is she going?” Lucas asked as his older brother hurried past him.

Lex cast a wry look in Lucas’ direction. “Where do you think?”

The expression of Lucas’ features deepened and for a second Lex wondered whether he didn’t see a glimmer of a conscience. “Let me talk to her.”

“No.”

“Lex…”

“No. Now get out of my way.”

There must have been something in his eyes which even his ever confident brother found unsettling because he stepped aside and let Lex head towards the front door to the mansion. He emerged through it to find a cool wind blowing his robe around and sending an instant shiver down his spine. Chloe was already disappearing into the distance, walking uneasily on the gravel of the drive and with what looked like her phone pressed against her ear.

She was probably calling a cab. Of course she was calling a cab. He had driven her here after all.

He stepped down off the last of the stone steps leading up to the door of the mansion and hurried after her, each step causing more of the gravel is slide inside his slippers and bite at his feet as he went. You couldn’t pause a moment longer and grab some shoes Lex thought as a particularly vicious piece took a chuck of flesh out of his heal.

“Chloe,” he called. “Stop a moment will you?”

She gave no indication that she had even heard him, continuing to walk along the driveway at the same rushed pace. Realising that he was actually going to have to catch her if he wanted to speak to her Lex attempted an unbalance jog until he was by her side again and faced with the same angry glowing features that he had been looking at in his bedroom.

“Go away,” she said bluntly.

“Stop being so stubborn.”

“This isn’t stubbornness – this is anger.”

“It’s irrational stubbornness which is unfortunately far too ingrained in your character for me to do anything about it without your complete cooperation.”

Chloe stopped abruptly, looking at him with wide eyes. “Answer me a couple of questions Lex.”

He hesitated for a moment then nodded his agreement.

“Were you or were you not interested in my relationship with Bruce Wayne?”

“Yes…”

She held her hand up to stop him from saying anymore and Lex fell quiet. “Did you or did you know sleep with me because of that?”

He shook his head quickly but Chloe continued to look unconvinced. “No not because of that.”

“Then why? Oh right,” she laughed. “Because of some deal you had with my friends right? Which friends and what was the deal?”

“Chloe, you have to let me explain.”

“Just answer the question.”

He stopped himself this time, utterly unable to answer her because he knew that whatever he managed to say before she stopped him would only damn him further in her opinion.

“You know, Bruce was right about you. I really should have listened to him.”

She turned away before he could respond and began he walk all over again. Lex watched her go, not quite believing how much of a mess he suddenly found himself in.


27.

Chloe could quite safely say she had never been so angry before in her life, not even when she had been passed over for promotion at work or for when one of her lecturers had blatantly failed to pass her on a paper because he disapproved of her journalist style and choice of story material in the past. Storming down the drive, away from Lex, she masked whatever pain had been resonating in her chest with rabid, all consuming anger.

Who the hell did he think he was? Give a guy a bit of money and some good looks and the next thing you knew he thought he could walk all over people.

Wincing one last time she stepped up off the gravel and onto the kinder walking surface of the grass which flanked the huge lawn before the mansion.

Thankfully Lex had decided not to try and stop her again; she honestly did not trust what she might do if he had. Visions of smacking him around the back of the head with her one remaining shoe filled Chloe’s mind but instead of the enlightened feeling that she had expected the blonde woman only felt her mood darken.

Look at what he was doing now; the damn man had made her resort to considering physical violence.

“Miss Sullivan?” the gateman called as she approached. Chloe cast one look towards the man, noted his confused, startled expression and walked right past him. She skirted around the edges of the gate much to the guard’s further shock and went to stand on the tarmac surface of the road which ran past the Luthor estate. With any luck then soon the cab she had called would be here – there wasn’t exactly a large demand for their service in Smallville after all.

Still, it seemed to take an unreasonable amount of time for the car to arrive and as a consequence it left entirely too long for Chloe to think about the wretched man up at the mansion and just what she would do to him. A smile finally lit on her face as several very interesting articles she could write about him filled her mind covering everything from a simple piece of business sabotage to murder to cross dressing flooded through Chloe’s mind as she constructed the ‘news’ items.

By the time the cab did arrive the driver was greeted by the sight of a rather dishevelled blonde slipping into the back seat with an eerie smile on her lips. He glanced once towards the Luthor mansion then seemed to come to some silent conclusion that satisfied him and then sped away from the gates.

Chloe slumped back into seat and pretended to be staring out the window at the passing countryside so as to be able to avoid any uncomfortable small talk with the driver. She had to collect her thoughts she realised. There was no way that, angry as she was, she could clearly think of what to do. For a start there were several questions that needed answering, the first of which certainly being exactly what her friends had to do with the whole mess and subsequently what deal it was that Lex had got involved with.

The first stop though, Chloe decided while looking down at her bare foot, was home. She needed something to eat, fresh clothes and a nice hot shower during which she could only hope that she would be able to scrub anyway any traces of Lex that was left on her.

Climbing out of the cab Chloe pushed money in the direction of the driver and ran up the driveway towards the front door of her father’s house, hugging her middle as she did so. Once inside she collapsed against the door and let out a deep breath. She had expected that the calm of her father’s house would sooth her but if anything Chloe found herself even more upset as she was struck by just how lonely she was at that moment. Once again her father seemed to have disappeared off the face of the planet and the one person who she had been spending most of her time with recently had just turned out to be the one person she felt like she never wanted to see again.

She couldn’t even talk to Clark she realised. There was no way on earth that she wanted to confess to him that she had just been stupid enough to go and sleep with Lex because she knew the moment she did so a knowing superior look would no doubt appear in his eyes. There was Pete… but Pete wasn’t really a better solution to her problem than Clark was. Bruce was out of the question; she didn’t want to admit to him that he had been right.

Which left Lana.

Which would be a conversation very nearly as uncomfortable as any other that she could think of at that moment and yet it still managed to be the most desirable option open to her.

Chloe climbed the stairs wearily and immediately jumped into the shower. After using up as much hot water as she could manage she emerged from the sauna that the bathroom had become with skin made rosy by the heat and rushed to her bedroom, dressing in a comfortable pair of old jeans and a large jumper. There was no real need to make an effort anymore after all.

Drifting downstairs she dug out a couple of slices of bread and popped them in the toaster before turning towards the coffee pot without a second thought and preparing her first cup of the day. Only when she had eaten did Chloe settle down in the lounge and dial Lana’s mobile number - not wanting to risk Pete answering.

“Hello?” Lana’s voice came after what seemed like an eternity.

“Lana?”

“Chloe?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh God, you sound terrible. Is something the matter?”

“You could say that,” Chloe laughed bitterly. “I really need to talk.”

There was a pause, one that lasted just a little too long and then Lana said, “I’ll be right over.”

There wasn’t time for Chloe to tell her not to bother, that she would be able to just talk on the phone because the call was quickly disconnected. True to her word Lana arrived in double quick time, stepping through the front door with such a look of concern on her face that Chloe felt an impromptu flood of tears rise into her eyes and very nearly spill over. Lana noticed immediately and wrapped her arms about Chloe’s shoulders, that one action breaking down whatever reserve that Chloe had left and leaving the blonde crying on the other woman’s shoulder.

Chloe did not know how long it took her to calm down but by the time she did she was slumped at the kitchen table with yet another cup of coffee before her, staring at the dark brown liquid and wondering at her lack of self control. She was never normally like this. Not once when she had broken up with Tony or Martin or, hell, even Caleb for that matter had she been like this. Of course there was one major difference between those times and this time – the fact that she had just slept with Lex and the small matter of a huge betrayal on his part.

She regaled the tale to Lana carefully, the other woman smiling in all the right places and nodding sympathetically in others. It wasn’t until she reached the end and was telling Lana about the conversation that she had over heard between Lucas and Lex that she realised that Lana had gone strangely quiet.

Chloe stopped abruptly, staring at the way that Lana was very deliberately not looking at her as more than a few things clicked into place.

Hadn’t it been Lana encouraging her to see Lex in the first place? She had been the one surprise Chloe with Lex’s arrival at the restaurant a few days before and then there had been the conversations they had shared when Lana had made it all too clear that she thought Lex was some kind of catch.

“Tell me I’ve got this wrong…” Chloe said slowly.

Lana didn’t look up. Instead she stood and moved away to the counter in silence; an action that seemed to proclaim her guilt to the world.

Oh God.

Oh good God she had to be wrong…

“Why?” Chloe asked softly, the hurt shining through in her voice.

Over at the counter Lana shrugged and kept her back to her.

Chloe climbed to her feet, walking over to Lana and spinning the other woman around as she did so. “That’s not going to do&#33;” she exclaimed. “Why the hell would you set me up like that?”

For the first time Lana managed to look up and she said softly, “Because of the conversation we had.”

“What conversation…” Chloe stopped as the answer dawned on her. “So you made some kind of a deal with Lex?” she asked in shock. Once again Lana did not respond and Chloe found herself adding, “What was in it for Lex?”

“I don’t know.”

“How can you not know? It was a *deal* wasn’t it.”

“Yes,” Lana said quickly. “But I wasn’t…” It was Lana’s turn to stop suddenly.

“You weren’t what?”

“I wasn’t there,” the brunette said, flushing from the roots of her hair downwards.

“Then how… Then who was?”

“Pete…” she said softly. “And Clark.”

Chloe’s breath caught in the throat and she stared at her friend in disbelief. Anger was once again bubbling through her veins and before Chloe was entirely aware what she was doing she said very coldly, very calmly, “Get out.”

Lana looked like she was about to protest but stopped as once again shouted her order. With one last look the other woman hurried out of the house via the back door.

For a few seconds Chloe stared at the doorway, still unable to believe what she had just heard then slumped back onto her chair at the kitchen table as another wave of tears rose in her eyes.

* * * *

Gabe Sullivan arrived home that night to find a note on the kitchen table and that his daughter had cleared out her room. Her wardrobe was empty saving a few outfits left over from her youth, as was her desk which had been covered in a spattering of newspapers and notes since her arrival back home a few days ago. Stood in the centre of her room he frowned and once again glanced down at the note in his hand. The writing was scrawled telling that Chloe had been in a hurry but the meaning was clear all the same.

Chloe had gone home; gone home to Gotham that was.

Something had happened since she had left the house yesterday that had made her so upset that she had gone rushing off without even stopping to say good buy to him.

Moving over to his daughter’s desk Gabe reached down and picked up the telephone handset there. He dialled Chloe’s number from memory and listened impatiently for a few moments before the sound of the recorded answering service that Chloe used filled the air. Either she was in the air already or she was not answering the phone. Neither possible solution did much to sooth his concerns; the first because he desperately wanted to talk to her and discover what had happened, the second because it clearly meant that whatever had managed to upset her so much was even more serious that he had feared.

Putting the phone down he went to move away only to be stopped by the sound of ringing behind him. Turning quickly Gabe made a grab for the phone, wondering whether it wasn’t Chloe realised her mistake and calling him back immediately.

“Chloe?” he said.

“No it’s Lex; she’s not there then?”

Gabe stopped, trying to connect together the mental map which was flashing in his mind. “No – is something the matter?”

“I’ve been trying to call her all day.”

Uncomfortably Gabe tensed and shifted around a little on the spot. “But didn’t she spend the night at yours.”

It was Lex’s turn to pause and he answered, “Yes but she left early.”

Suspicious dawning on him Gabe said, “Did you too have an argument or something?”

“I’m afraid so.”

“Well it must have been an absolute blinder because she’s gone.”

“Sorry?” Lex said in shocked tones. “Did you say she’s gone?”

“I didn’t even see her,” Gabe confirmed. “She just left me a note saying she had to go back to Gotham.”

“I…” Lex started to say and then stopped. “Oh. Well, thank you Gabe.”

The line went dead before Gabe could respond leaving the older man staring at the handset. What on earth had gone on?

28.

Chloe had stepped off the plane in Gotham to find Bruce stood before her with a much needed hug in his arms and a ride back to her apartment. She was thankful, not wanting to battle to get a cab in the pouring rain outside the airport but even more she was thankful that even after her somewhat panicked call from Smallville Bruce had the good sense to remain quiet on the drive to her place and even while she gulped down a warming cup of coffee.

Sat in her small cosy sitting room she had regaled the entire story to him and watched as seemingly every emotion from pity to anger and concern passed through Bruce’s usually stoic expression. It was only when she was finished talking however that he shifted from the armchair he had been occupying over to the couch, settling next to her and wrapping a comforting arm around her shoulders.

“I know I should be angry,” she sobbed against him. “But I can’t be – at least I can’t be constantly… I just still can’t believe they would all be so heartless…”

Bruce’s arm tightened around her shoulders, rubbing them gently as he muttered what sounded suspiciously like a death threat against Lex.

Two weeks later and Chloe was sounding only marginally less miserable. She couldn’t get the feeling of lying in Lex’s arms out of her head. It was a constant taunting reminder of what had been offered to her and then ripped away so quickly and cruelly. Sat at her desk at the paper, slumped on the couch at home, even when she was out to lunch with friends Chloe couldn’t help but think that she would rather be somewhere else with someone else.

That someone just happened to be the one person that it was best that she wasn’t around at that moment.

“You’re distracted today,” a deep voice said from across the table, making Chloe look up from her rather extensive study of the table surface. Bruce was smiling at her, handsome features highlighted by the rare bright day around them as they sat outside the café chosen for lunch that day.

Chloe raised an eyebrow and was greeted by Bruce mirroring the action.

“I was waiting for you to add an ‘again’,” she said finally and making him smile.

“I can’t want to have a pleasant lunch with a friend?” Bruce asked.

“Sure you can – and I’m sorry for being a pain in the ass and not listening.”

“It was nothing important,” he conceded.

Chloe reached across the table and patted his hand. “You’re the most understanding person I’ve ever met,” she said. “Thank god you’re my friend is all I can say.”

“You need to do something to take your mind off that man,” Bruce said sternly.

“Easier said than done.”

“I can help,” he offered playfully.

Chloe smirked broadly. “That’s a nice offer but I doubt it’d be a good idea.”

Bruce sighed and pulled the napkin that had been resting on his lap upwards, placing it on the table beside his now empty plate. There was something in his expression which told Chloe that she was about thirty seconds away from Bruce deciding to give her a ‘talk’. She held her hand up to stop him saying instead herself, “Lets just drop the subject. I’ve talked all I want to talk about Lex Luthor for about the next year… probably longer actually.”

“So you won’t want to know that I received a rather large package from him this morning which I get the feeling was probably meant more for you than for me?”

Chloe raised an interested eyebrow though she tried to appear rather less interested than she really was. In truth her stomach was doing back flips while wondering what on earth it could be that Lex would even consider sending to Bruce of all people they both knew. “Oh?”

“Yes and it was filled with some rather interesting files on you and me – complete with annotations.”

“He made notes?” Chloe exclaimed in surprise although she wasn’t sure way. Thinking about it a little actually made Chloe realise that it did sound like something Lex would do. “Did these files contain anything interesting?”

“Rather a lot actually.”

“Was there anything I would be particularly interested in or was it all connected to boring business stuff?”

Bruce grinned at her. “Mostly boring business stuff,” he admitted. “For some reason Luthor seemed to think that I would like to know every single thing that he knows about me and by business.” The grin broadened. “It was actually rather interesting to find out how little he actually knows.”

Chloe shared the grin before adding, “You said ‘mostly’. What else was there?”

“Just this,” he said reaching inside his jacket pocket and pulling out an ivory white envelope. He held it just out of her immediate reach, as if daring her to reach across and take it from him. Cocking her head to one side Chloe shock out one quick hand and pulled the envelope out of his grasp. Chloe stared at the fluid manner in which her name was written on the outside before placing it down, leaning it against her glass of water and glaring at it.

“You’re not going to read it?” Bruce asked.

“I… I don’t know. What do you think? Should I?”

“You already know what my opinion is.”

“You’re no help,” she pouted. “None at all.”

“You don’t really want my opinion. You didn’t want it two weeks ago and you don’t really want it now either. If you really wanted to open that letter then you would have already.”

Chloe stared at him blankly. “Way to be blunt Bruce.”

He rolled his eyes at her and reached back into the inner pocket of his jacket, pulling out a wallet and taking out enough money to cover the bill for both of them. For once Chloe didn’t protest at the gesture as she was immediately more concerned with the fact that he had decided to take off so quickly.

“I need to get back to work,” he told her.

“No you don’t,” Chloe argued for the sake of it. “You don’t even need to be there – you could spend all day at home and no one would give a damn.”

“Well if I don’t need to work you certainly do,” he said without even the slightest malice despite her barb. They had been friends long enough now that Bruce understood her and could put up with her moods even when they were less than wonderful.

“You’re just taking off?” she asked sitting forwards a little in her chair.

“This day would go nowhere until you come to a few decisions about that,” he told her pointing at the letter which was still sitting on the table. Chloe’s eyes darted towards it and she sighed her acknowledgement.

Two weeks later and the letter was still unopened and had taken up a position hidden beneath a pile of papers in a draw where it couldn’t pull at her attention every thirty seconds and distract her. And Chloe had very nearly forgotten about it. She really had. There were plenty of new stories out there awaiting her attention and Chloe found that throwing herself into her work more and more.

Which made things rather more bearable for a little while though never completely so.

It didn’t help that her father was still pestering her with a reason for why it was she had taken off so quickly. Lana, Clark and Pete refused to tell him and Lex certainly wasn’t going to even though he had on more than one occasion asked the other man to. So he had turned his attention to Chloe, all the while hinting that he knew something had happened and that he perhaps had an idea what that something was but never actually coming right out and saying it. There was no way that she could tell him the entire story but she did drop little details that she hoped would satisfy him.

That didn’t stop him calling her every other night to try and pull a few more details than she really wanted to tell him.

Sat at her desk, the hustle and bustle of the newsroom around her, Chloe stared absently at the computer screen before her, trying to make sense of the words that she had been trying to string together for the past hour. It was no use really, she was never going to meet her deadline and for the second week in a row that would mean that she would go without getting a front page headline – something that Chloe couldn’t remember ever happening before. At least not while she was at the paper in Gotham.

Leaning back Chloe rubbed her eyes, working on the theory that it might help clear her mind while wondering whether it wasn’t lack of sleep that was the problem. When they flickered open again though she realised she was no closer to a breakthrough with the blinking cursor on the screen. A brief glance upwards told her that Kirk, the other reporter she shared a desk with was doing his usual excellent job of watching her with a look of superiority on his face as he realised that she wasn’t getting anywhere. Chloe frowned back at him; the irritating whelp probably thought that every moment she spent not being productive was a step closer to promotion for him from obituaries.

Reaching into her box of discs Chloe grabbed one and pushed it into the laptop. She wasn’t getting any work done here so maybe she would have more chance at home. While the file copied itself onto the disc Chloe sent a short and sweet email to her editor telling him that she would send him her story later then popped the disc into her bag and after grabbing her coat made to leave the newsroom.

She was barely halfway down the street before Chloe felt a hand grabbed her arm, spin her around and propel her towards an alleyway. She opened her mouth to scream but was stopped as another hand covered her lips and stopped her from doing so. Heart racing Chloe forced her eyes open as she was pushed against a wall, half expecting to see one of Gotham’s numerous freaks stood before her. Instead there were the shinning mischievous eyes of a certain younger Luthor with a broad smile on his face.

Lucas Luthor looked like he had just won some sort of prize.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Chloe mumbled into his hand, the words coming out as an unintelligible jumble.

Lucas simply arched an eyebrow at her causing Chloe to roll her eyes at him. She raised her free hand and gestured pointedly to the hand covering her mouth and hoping that the look on her face would tell him enough of exactly what she would do with said limb if he didn’t move it immediately.

Lucas did not so much as twitch before saying, “Chloe, we’re going on a little journey.”

She raised her eyebrows before finding herself propelled towards a waiting car. Lucas opened the door and pushed her inside, closing it again before she even had a hope and getting out and locking it after him. She scurried over to the other seat and tried that side only to find that Lucas was already there, climbing in himself and settling behind the driver’s seat. Discovering that route blocked the blonde turned back to her own door, tugging at the handle only to find that it would not budge even when she tried to disengage the lock manually.

“Let me out Lucas,” she growled, glaring at him from the passenger seat. Lucas only grinned however and the next thing Chloe knew she was thrown backwards as his foot hit the accelerator and they were flying out onto the main street. “What are you doing?” she gasped as he began to weave in and out of the traffic at breakneck speeds.

“Kidnapping you,” Lucas said and although she searched his face for any sign he was kidding apart from the usual air of mischief about him Lucas looked deadly serious.

“But why?” she spluttered.

“Because I can’t put up with the Grinch mopping around the mansion any longer.”

“Huh?”

Lucas looked towards her leaving Chloe gesturing madly towards an on coming car so that he would turn his attention back to the road.

“Lex,” was all he said and suddenly realisation dawned on her.

“Stop the car and let me out,” Chloe said. “Seriously Lucas, I don’t know what sort of mind games the two of you have decided to start playing now but I want you to stop this care immediately.”

He shook his head before saying, “And subject myself to even more of his grumpiness? No way, not going to happen. He’s been in the foulest mood ever since you took off and I’m bored of it.”

“Well what did he expect?” Chloe exclaimed. “After what I heard he’s lucky I didn’t put an end to any chance of a romantic attachment for him ever.”

Lucas glanced around and Chloe held her hand up making ‘snip, snip’ motions with her fingers. For a second she felt triumph as he blanched slightly but it disappeared quickly as he seemed to regain control of his expression. “Not that that wouldn’t be amusing,” Lucas said. “But he’s my brother and as much as I hate to admit it and as much as I love to annoy him I don’t much like it when he’s moping around looking like a love sick puppy.”

“Lex couldn’t look like a love sick puppy even if you gave him surgery,” Chloe responded cynically and quickly.

“Yeah, well it was a surprise to me too.”

“I don’t want to talk to him,” Chloe said after they had sat in silence for a few minutes. Peering out the window the blonde was distressed to find she had the uncomfortable feeling that Lucas seemed to be heading in the direction of the airport. Not good. Not good at all. Visions of finding herself being bundled onto a plane and flown back to Kansas filled her mind only to be countered by even worse ones of being confronted with Lex the moment that they reached the airport.

“You don’t have to talk,” Lucas told her. “You just have to sit or stand there and listen while he apologises and begs for your forgiveness.”

“Well he’s not going to get it,” she said folding her arms over her stomach defiantly.

“I think even he realises that.”

“Then why is he even bothering&#33;” Chloe exclaimed with a level of exasperation filling her words as Lucas made a turn that indeed brought them closer to the airport.

The car slowed a little, almost as if indicating that Lucas’ mood had changed because the next words out of his mouth were softer, less amused and seemingly far more sensitive. “Lex doesn’t get the chance to explain himself very much,” he said. “Believe it or not there aren’t many people who want to even try and understand when he is and is not telling the truth and that tends to make them distrust him constantly. The press don’t help. Headlines are what the public know about him and they’re not exactly complementary ninety-nine percent of the time. Even if he does try to publicly explain himself then reporters tend to misquote him and he either comes out looking false or like some kind of lying bastard. Don’t look like that you know it’s the truth. All I’m doing is giving him the chance to explain what he was doing and why and then it’s up to you whether you decide whether you want to believe him or not.”

Chloe stared at him opened mouthed, not quite believing what she had just heard. It took her a moment to push aside her awe at what she had just heard and to remind herself that she was the wronged party in the mess they found themselves in. Feeling impossibly selfish Chloe licked her lips and said quietly, “Have you thought about me in all of this or just your brother and yourself?”

Lucas glanced towards her, his expression indicating clearly that he probably hadn’t thought about her before he had chance to cover it with either a typical stoic Luthor face or an amused Lucas one of his own.

“You really don’t get it do you?” she said. “I’m hurt by all of this and I’m not going to put myself in a position where I have to relive the experience all over again.”

“I’m not asking…”

“Yes you are&#33; Damn it Lucas I want you to stop this car and let me out,” she shouted, tears rising in her eyes as she did so. “I know this might be a difficult concept for a *Luthor* to understand but I really cared about your brother and all he did was mess me around and take advantage of that fact. I’ve a right to be angry and upset.”

Lucas pulled over to the side of the road sharply, the action causing the vehicles around them to screech and hoot there horns as they tried to get out of the way and avoid a crash. Chloe was nearly as frightened by the sudden halt as everyone else was and she gripped the armrest to her side tightly before realising that they had stopped.

“You’re serious,” Lucas said as if the possibility had not occurred to him before.

“Yes I am.”

He slumped back in his seat, staring out the windscreen before him at the traffic disappearing into the distance. “Are you certain you’re serious?”

“Yes.”

“And I can’t change your mind?”

“No.”

“You’re the most stubborn person I’ve ever met.”

“Your brother thinks the same.”

Lucas rolled his head around to one side to look at her. “Chloe… he cares.”

Her face scrunched as his words washed over her and she tried to ignore them.

Lex didn’t care. He couldn’t care. He was a selfish greedy bastard who was only interested in what he could get for himself.

Oh, and in making other people’s lives a misery, she added. He was particularly good at that.

“I… don’t believe you.”

“I think you do.” The amusement in his voice was back.

“Can you unlock the door?” Chloe asked sounding tired.

“You don’t want me to drive you back?”

“This is Gotham, Lucas. I live here and there’s a fairly decent public transport system so I think I can find my way back by myself.”

He smirked at her. “And if your articles are to be believed then there are freaks running around all over the place and half of them seem to be interested in murdering you.”

Chloe narrowed her eyes at him, saw the look of determination in his expression and sighed loudly. “Go on then.”

He grinned broadly at her and then they were off again, speeding through the streets and oddly taking a route which seemed to take them back in the direction of her apartment.

[HumbugGirl]

29.

Lex’s eyes narrowed as he looked at the report before him. There was a series of photographs before him on the desk as well as a few small press clippings. It was the photographs that really caught his eye however. The first few were of Chloe sat around in her apartment alone, the next of her in various situations with Bruce Wayne – looking disturbingly relaxed with him – and the last… Well the last were the ones which were truly holding his attention. Several pictures of his brother and the woman he was entirely certain he was in love with. Apparently Lucas had decided to extend his little plan.

Pushing the pictures aside Lex frowned. When he had first heard of his brother’s plan to kidnap Chloe and drag her back to Smallville kicking and screaming he had been enraged. It was only after he had calmed down a little – mainly because he had realised that there was no use shouting at his brother when he was in midair flying to Gotham – then he had realised that the plan did have certain advantages. At least when Lucas got her to Kansas then there would be every chance that he would at least be able to see Chloe in person for a short while… even if she probably would be shouting and screaming at him at the time.

Only Lucas seemed to have changed his plan and that was… unsettling.

The feeling was made worse by the fact that Chloe evidently was choosing not to speak to any of her friends. By not doing so Lex found his lines of communication cut with her. Before while he might have been able to ask Lana or Pete or even Clark how she was now he had to rely on hearsay and any snippets his brother might choose to share with him. The latter were few and far between.

Even his attempts to show through good will by sending Bruce the information he had on the pair had been refused. While he was no doubt sure that Bruce had been highly amused by the arrival of a box full of files on himself and Chloe, and furthermore would certainly have spoken to Chloe about it, the blonde herself apparently had not been the slightest bit interested.

Which meant only one thing; she could not have read the note that he sent her. Lex was certain that if she had then he would at least have received the pieces back after she shredded it.

Yet another unpleasant and unsettling thought.

It only served to make him more determined however. Ever since Chloe had marched away from the mansion that day well over a month ago now he had been unable to take his mind off her. At first Lex had tried to remind himself that it had all been a deal anyway and that life should just return to normal now that he had fulfilled his end of the bargain. The problem was he wasn’t sure that he had fulfilled it – hadn’t he been the one to say that Chloe shouldn’t find out about the deal and have her feelings hurt as a consequence? And hadn’t he been the one to do just that in an indirect manner at least?

More than that he was forced to remind himself that he had decided even before he had slept with Chloe that the reason he was with her was for more than some deal anyway. It was that realisation that forced Lex to accept that he could not pretend that it was just an unfortunately nasty conclusion to some business deal gone wrong.

He couldn’t just let her walk away from him like that. She had to understand that he really did care for her after all.

Apparently he would have to work even harder in order to do that. The question was how he was going to manage that of course, especially since he did not doubt that his usual methods would get him no where with Chloe. She would probably find them laughable.

Absently he found himself reaching for the top draw of his desk, pulling out a pad of writing paper and a pen.

‘Dear Chloe’ he wrote then stopped, wondering whether he wasn’t doing the wrong thing. Bombarding Chloe with letters might only serve to irritate her more than persuade her to listen to him.

Of course emailing her would not work to his advantage either. It would be probable that she would just change her address. Actually moving out of her apartment or leaving her job behind would be far less easily done, something which served to make the idea of writing to her all the more reasonable once he had realised that there was no way that she was ever going to answer any of his calls.

Writing it was, he thought and turned his attention back to the paper before him.

He would *make* her listen.

* * * *

It was not a surprise when a little over a week later Lex walked downstairs one morning to find a rather ominous looking large brown envelope sitting on his desk. Lex did not even try to fool himself by pretending that it wasn’t Chloe’s handwriting on the front and proceeded to open the package somewhat reluctantly. Tipping it on end caused his letters from the previous week to scattered onto the desk in addition to the one he had sent earlier in his gift to Bruce; not one of them had been opened. Lex lined them up on the desk then drew them all together and dropped them into the bottom draw of his desk only to reveal a single folded sheet of paper.

Somewhat apprehensively Lex reached for it, holding it between his fingers for a few seconds before unfolding it and peering at the page before him. The writing – as little as was present – blurred before his eyes and Lex found himself blinking for several seconds before he could focus enough to actually read the contents.

‘Please don’t bother again, Chloe’

* * * *

At first he was not so easily deterred. Lex continued to write to her and it was not until Lucas returned from Gotham one weekend with a bag full of his letters, all still unopened. The look on Lucas’s face, the shear smugness that was mixed with something which looked suspiciously like pity, had been just enough to make Lex consider picking up his pen and trying once again. Rejection he could handle – after all he had been faced with years of it where his father was concerned. But pity, that was another thing entirely.

Pity was something that inexcusable. As a Luthor people simply did not pity him. They feared him and admired him but they never pitied him. It simply wasn’t an option as far as most people were concerned. Lucas though… Lucas was another matter entirely. Lucas was family and somehow the idea of him pitying him was far, far more horrific than the thought of anyone else pitying him. Perhaps it was the fact that he had been brought up in the Luthor shark pool where only the fittest survived. Showing weakness was not an option.

Lex shook himself, dragging himself out of his thoughts and looked across to where Lucas was look at him with that same expression which inspired such disgust in him.

“If it’s any consolation I don’t think she wants you dead anymore,” Lucas said with a sympathetic grin.

“Wonderful,” Lex muttered standing and walking over towards where a bottle of twenty year old scotch had recently been decanted into its crystal equivalent. He caught sight of himself in a mirror abruptly, all but frowning at the dark circles which stood out sharply around his eyes and the way in which his skin seemed unusually sallow. He turned away quickly, taking hold of the decanter and pouring his brother a glass as well.

“Are you going to give up?”

Lex shook his head slowly.

“Good.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“What it sounds like. She likes you. She doesn’t want to admit it to herself but she does like you.”

Lex snorted his disbelief then instantly regretted it. As always there was the ever present fear that his brother was playing some type of complicated game and yet at the same time he would have liked to believe that after knowing each other as long as they had now then he would have been able to tell when Lucas was telling the truth. A large part of him wanted to believe that Lucas was telling the truth.

“Do you want to know what I think?” Lucas asked.

Not really, Lex thought but nodded anyway. It would probably be the quickest way to get rid of Lucas’s pitying look and the most direct route to returning to his most recent favourite activity – brooding.

“I think that unless you actually get out there and see her in person you’re never going to get anyway. Sure she’s probably going to blow you off again but it’ll be a lot harder doing it to you face.”

“Thanks,” Lex said wryly before pausing, taking a sip of his drink and added, “Do you really think that’d be a good idea?”

Lucas nodded. “Like I said, it’s harder for her to say no to someone’s face.”

“She didn’t seem to have any particular problem before,” he said referring to the day Chloe had stormed out of the mansion.

“She was angrier then.”

Lex contemplated his words, trying to deny the truth that was evident in them. Narrowing his eyes at his brother he asked, “Since when do you know so much about Chloe?”

“Since I spent the last couple of weeks with her,” Lucas responded quickly. A smirk flickered onto his brother’s features. “You know I’m right. You just don’t want to admit it.”

Lex rolled his eyes. “She’s probably going to get a restraining order if I do this,” he said finally.

“And you could get it overturned in about thirty minutes if you wanted to.”

He took a moment and then sighed his resignation. “If this goes horribly wrong you know I’m going to blame you right?”

The smirk on Lucas’s face broadened into a full grin. “Ooh, I’m scared. No really, I am.”


30.

Bruce had learnt a long time ago that the way to stay ahead of the game in Gotham was to keep your ear to the ground. It didn’t matter whether he was dealing with some socialite, a businessman or one of Gotham’s less than savoury characters it was the same in each case – you couldn’t win unless you knew what was happening. And it was for that reason and that reason alone that Bruce was made aware of the fact that Lex Luthor had scheduled one of his private jets to fly into Gotham for just after noon that day.

Cancelling his usual Friday lunchtime appointment with Chloe, leaving the blonde woman somewhat miffed as he did so, the Gotham billionaire arrived at the airport only a quarter of an hour before Lex’s plane landed. As a consequence he was waiting in the terminal as Lex emerged into the building, a personal assistant running after him lugging what appeared to be a rather heavy looking briefcase. The other man stopped short when he saw Bruce stood there, his usually perfectly schooled features showing momentarily confusion before falling back into their usual stoic expression. He looked the picture of class stood their in light grey suit with an equally pale shirt underneath and there was the expected arrogance about his being which instantly threw Bruce back so many years to their schools days when for whatever reason Lex had imagined that he had to compete with the much shier boy that Bruce had been back then. Of course the situation had not improved once they had left school, more than once each had vied for the same business deals, the same affections of one woman or another.

Bruce fixed his face with a cold smile and stepped forwards to greet the other man. The smile was instantly returned and there was abruptly an understanding between the two men. Neither of them wanted to be around each other but if there was business to perform then they would at least try to get through it while maintaining a civil front to each other.

“Bruce.”

“Lex.”

“Forgive the obvious but what are you doing here?”

Bruce pushed his hands into his pockets. “Meeting you.”

Lex all but rolled his eyes. “Yes but why?”

For the briefest moment Bruce felt unsure about what he was doing. If, he realised, he went through with what he had planned then it would be a great betrayal of Chloe’s trust and that was something that he truly dreaded. As one of this only true friends in Gotham there was no way that he wanted to risk hurting and offending her. On the other hand Bruce had realised long ago that Chloe’s stubbornness, her inability to be flexible that she had developed since becoming a journalist was something that interfered far too often in how she ran her private life.

It was that stubbornness and sense of blind determination that Bruce was currently trying to bypass. As much as he hated to admit that there was any way that Chloe could possibly be happy with Lex he had seen the way that she had looked whenever he accidentally or purposely brought up the other man’s name. Hell, he had seen the way that she had responded to Lex’s brother’s urgings that she should give Lex another chance. It was almost as if she were trying to avoid Lex now simply because she thought she should.

With a sigh Bruce realised Lex was watching him curiously. On a leap of faith he said, “I take it you’re here to see Chloe.”

Lex appeared to hesitate for a moment and then nodded shortly, stiffly. It was almost as if he’d had to make an internal decision as to whether he could trust Bruce or not – something that Bruce wasn’t surprised about. Doubtless Lex had imagined that the moment he said yes, he was here to see Chloe then Bruce would have given the signal for a half a dozen henchmen to appear and bundle him into the back of a truck.

It was a tempting thought.

Bruce pushed it to the back of his mind and tried to put a warm smile onto his features. “Let’s make one thing clear from the start of this,” he said. “This is not some sort of sign of approval.”

“I don’t need your approval.”

With a roll of his eyes Bruce said, “I know that. I’m simply saying that I don’t approve of whatever this relationship you too have going is. I certainly don’t approve of the way you went about getting into it and the reasons behind it. Chloe is a *very* dear friend after all.”

Lex made to step past him saying, “I didn’t come here to listen you lecture me.”

“No,” he answered putting a hand out and catching hold of Lex’s arm to stop him from walking no. “You didn’t and I’m not planning on lecturing you. I’m… I’m here to offer you my help.”

“I thought you didn’t approve?”

“I don’t but that doesn’t mean that’s what’s best for Chloe. She’s been living in a dream for the past few weeks and you’re the cause of it. She doesn’t work well when distracted - it’s going to end up getting her in trouble and besides there is her personal happiness to consider…” He trailed off. Letting go of Lex’s arm he added, “As I understand it from your brother you’ve been rather unimaginative about attracting and keeping Chloe’s attention.”

Lex’s face darkened, the barb evidently wounding his male pride. Bruce quickly held a hand up to stop him saying anything that he might regret and that would make Bruce reconsider his position.

“The point I was trying to get to was that I’ve got an idea that might help you if you’re willing to accept my help.”

Hope flickered across Lex’s features quickly and vividly. It took away much of the harshness that Bruce was used to seeing and for a second the dark haired man guessed he saw some of what Chloe saw in the man. Underneath it all Lex was uncharacteristically sensitive and obviously what had gone on between himself and Chloe had effected him more than Bruce could possibly have suspected before.

“What do you have in mind?” Lex asked.

* * * *

Chloe was stuck with the uncomfortable feeling that Bruce was up to something. In most cases that something tended to be a ‘something’ wonderful or at the very least ‘something’ thoughtful. The moment that he cancelled lunch with her though with no particular reason Chloe had begun to suspect something though. When he rang her mid-afternoon and said he wanted to rearrange to a dinner date that evening it had only served to set of more alarm bells in Chloe’s mind - alarm bells that did not stop ringing until she drove her car up the drive to the Wayne mansion with the characteristic Gotham rain pouring all around her.

Indeed if she was completely honest with herself she was still unsettled as she walked through the massive front doors to Bruce’s home and handed her coat to Alfred with was waiting with one of his ever present smiles. There was nothing in the old man’s face which betrayed that he knew something was going on but there was no doubt in Chloe’s mind that he knew every single little thing that went on in Bruce’s life and that would include anything that happened to her while in Bruce’s company as well. Chloe narrowed her eyes and asked a few well-timed questions of the man who had met her at the door but to no avail; she would get no early answers out of Alfred.

He led her through several dark halls until they reached one of the smaller dinning halls although ‘small’ when discussing anything in Bruce’s home was something of a misnomer. When Bruce’s ancestors had built the place they had clearly not been shy about showing off the amount of money they had. Eventually however she emerged into a familiar room and stopped short in the doorway as she took in the table before her.

Chloe narrowed her eyes once again and stepped forwards to peer more closely at the table. There was no way on earth that it was laid out for some casual evening meal with a friend. Candle sticks glowed casting golden light over shockingly expensive looking dinner service complete with highly polished silver gleaming brightly. There was a complicated looking petite flower arrangement complete with her favourite pale yellow roses. Chloe plucked one out of the basket and lifted it, sniffing the delicate scent deeply and twisted the stalk between her fingers playfully.

What the hell was Bruce playing at? If she didn’t know better then she would suppose he had set this up as some sort of *date* date and not just a dinner date between friends. But he wouldn’t do that. She knew he would never do something like that even when she took into consideration his strange behaviour lately, the way he kept insisting on checking if she was alright. And that meant he was up to something else – the fact even compounded by Bruce not being there in person to greet her.

Chloe turned around on her heals and looked about the room for any other clue as to what was going on only to jump as the sort strains of string music began to radiate from some unknown source. It was discrete enough to suggest to Chloe that it was intended to be romantic which only managed to make the blonde all the more uncomfortable. Deciding to take hold of the situation she took a step towards the door out of the dinning room, hoping to find Alfred and wheedle some answers out of him; the old man had to crack as some point. She was stopped almost immediately though as the door opened a little way.

Chloe opened her mouth in order to begin what she hoped would be a somewhat teasing conversation with her host. The moment the person who had opened the door stepped through the door however she felt the colour drain from her face and her mouth fall open silently.

Lex smiled at her a little nervously and held his hands up in a defensive posture after stepping all the way into the room and closing the door behind him.

He evidently thought that she was going start shouting at him, to show him just how angry she still was. The problem was that Chloe wasn’t sure that she could pull together enough of her anger at that moment to shout at him because there was a big ball of happiness welling in her heart at seeing him again. It curled it’s way around her body, interfering with any thoughts that she might have had that would have stopped her from feeling even the smallest bit of joy at seeing him stood across from her. Chloe found herself thinking that the one thing she wanted right at that moment was to fling herself across the short distance between them, wrap her arms around his neck and hold onto him for at least an hour without even thinking of letting go. She knew she had missed him but she had not realised up until that moment just how much she had missed him.

Instead of acting on impulse however Chloe showed that she determined to be enormous self-restraint by folding her arms across her chest and waiting for an explanation from the man who was stood across from her. They never came however, in complete silence Lex walked past her and seated himself at the table. Chloe followed his progress only to find herself stunned when he held out a hand inviting her to take a seat at the table.

She stared at him opened mouthed while wondering what was happening. It seemed utterly unnatural that he had not actually said anything to her yet while being aware of her presence at the same time. It was exceptionally un-Lex-like.

Wordlessly she walked towards the table once again, placing her hands on the back of one of the chairs but not actually moving to sit on it. She still couldn’t take her eyes off Lex in this most unlikely of settings. He was dressed quite casually in dark slacks and a deep plum coloured sweater that hinted teasingly at the honed chest that she knew for a fact laid underneath. It was distracting to say the least to think that the last time she had spent anytime at all with the man before her had been several weeks ago in a rather large bed.

“Got Bruce tied up in the basement?” Chloe asked with a raised eyebrow. It came out rather hasher that she had expected and it certainly didn’t have the desired effect. Lex looked at undisturbed by her comment as if she had asked him what the weather was like outside.

“I believe he’s upstairs somewhere,” Lex told her. “Keeping out of the way.”

Once again Chloe’s mouth fell open. “He knows you’re here?” she asked in amazement.

“He asked me here.”

And suddenly the reason that Bruce was hiding himself away upstairs became clear; he evidently did not want to face the wrath of Chloe right at that moment.

Taking a deep breath to try and calm herself internally Chloe said, “And why would he do that?”

She could tell he was tempted to shrug but stopped himself from doing so. “Why Bruce does anything has always been a mystery to me,” Lex said. “But I believe that at the moment he is acting under the belief that he knows what’s better for you than you know yourself.”

Chloe shook her head in disbelief though unfortunately she was forced to admit that it did indeed sound like something Bruce would do.

“Are you going to sit down?”

“Actually I was thinking about turning around and walking out of here before maybe going and giving Bruce a quick smack around the back of the head and going home.”

“You might have a problem there,” Lex said. “I’m sure that Alfred has by this point had one member of the staff or another hide you car.”

Chloe’s eyes widened in surprise. “I’ll call a cab then.”

“With what?”

“With my…” she began and then stopped as a sudden memory flickered in her mind. Somehow Alfred had managed to spirit her bag away from her and hence her phone when welcoming her into the house. If this evening was going the way she imagined it had been planned then that too would have been hidden away. “Bruce has got plenty of phones lying around the place.”

Lex looked at her with an amused expression flickering through his eyes. “I think they’ve hid those as well.”

The blonde woman drew in a sharp breath. “Are you trying to tell me I’m stuck here?”

“Until we’ve had a proper conversation over dinner,” Lex confirmed. “So you might as well sit down.”

“This isn’t fair,” Chloe said.

This time Lex did shrug. He once again gestured towards the chair and Chloe reluctantly lowered herself into it. Almost the second that she was settled the door behind her opened and some nameless maid that Chloe had never seen before bustled in pushing what appeared to be a trolley of food which was duly placed on the table. A brief rumble of her stomach reminded Chloe that she had not eaten since breakfast that morning.

“You wanted to talk so talk,” Chloe said while loading her plate. “Although I should probably warn you that I don’t plan on listening too hard.”

“That you’ll be listening at all is enough,” Lex told her and then promptly launched into the story of how they had ended up in bed together.

He started with how Pete and Clark had approached him making a particular point of mentioning his supposed conditions for agreeing to the deal they had approached him with and leaving Chloe snorting her disbelief while trying to hide her embarrassment at finding out that Lex had obviously known about her virginity beforehand. Lex had very pointedly chosen to ignore her reaction before going on with his story. His was almost distressingly honest and there was something about his voice which suggested to Chloe that he had probably rehearsed his little speech beforehand. Indeed as he talked about how he had initially agreed in order to try and find out information about Bruce from her Chloe had very nearly winced for him. There was a decided amount of shame in his voice as he spoke which called to her forcing Chloe to try and remind herself that if there was anyone who was an expert at deceiving a listener into believing him. He was probably just pretending to be ashamed to get back into her good books.

And yet… when he spoke to her of their dates and how he had enjoyed them even despite the fact that they usually ended up with him getting injured Chloe had repeatedly found her heart softening just a little so she was forced to steel herself again and again. It was something that she found exceptionally irritating because along with the continued sense of joy that she was feeling at seeing him again it was slowly beginning to ware her down.

And that was something she couldn’t let happen. He didn’t deserve for that to happen.

“I forgot about the deal. I dropped it from my thoughts because it was irrelevant. I was… I was falling in love,” he admitted.

That stopped her. She had been halfway through lifting a fork piled with food to her mouth but she stopped. Even in her ever so determined effort not to listen to what Lex was saying she found she couldn’t ignore an admission like that. For the first time since Lex had begun to speak Chloe looked at him, surprise evident in her eyes.

“I was falling in love,” he said again softly, seriously. “I have fallen in love.”

“You’re always falling in love,” Chloe said quickly.

“Not like this.”

She shook her head, blonde hair dancing. “I want you to tell me one reason why I should believe you?”

“Because I’m currently eating dinner in Bruce Wayne’s home at his invitation after he met me at the airport and we both decided that you need bringing to your senses.”

Chloe’s eyebrows shot up. “I need *bringing* to my *senses*?” she growled.

“Yes.”

“You know you’re doing a damn good job of reminding me why I hate you right now.”

Lex rolled his eyes. “But you don’t just hate me.”

“Yes… no…” She threw her hands up in the air. “I don’t need this Lex. Why can’t you just accept that I’m not interested in getting mixed up in whatever little game you’re decided to play?”

For the first time since entering the room Chloe saw something like irritation in his expression. “Do you honestly think that I would even be here if this was just some sort of game? I hate to tell you this Chloe but I gave up any and all advantages I had over Bruce when I sent him that box of information and however well I may ingratiate myself with you I doubt that I could get that advantage back now.”

She opened her mouth to try and form some sort of smart comment but never managed it as Lex preceded his tirade.

“Do you think that I would honestly be sitting here, pouring my heart out to you if I didn’t care for you? Why the hell would I put myself through that sort of humiliation?”

“I-“

“I’m actually trying to do the right thing here and yes, it’s partly for selfish reasons but only because as things stand I can’t *function* without you around. I’ve been stumbling around my life for the past few weeks making a mess of everything and it occurred to me that the only way that anything is going to be right again is if I put things right with you. That way my life might get back on track – hopefully a little better because you’re in it.”

“Lex,” she choked in the brief pause before he started to speak again.

“I realise that the chances of me actually managing that are thin but I’m a Luthor and I would have thought that by now you would have realised that giving up isn’t something we do easily.”

“I got that with all the letters,” she murmured but inside there was a peculiar feeling that her voice did not betray.

Reaching for his glass from the table Lex added, “Well, there you go. I’ve said my piece.” He took a long sip, savouring the wine as if wishing for something stronger.


31.

She was simply staring at him, bright eyes wide in confusion, lips slightly parted in such an endearing way that if it hadn’t been for the situation that they were in right at that moment and their current topic of conversation then Lex would surely have stood, walked around to her side and kissed her so thoroughly that she would have had problems remembering what her own name was.

Of course Lex suspected that if he tried it at that moment then it was probable that Chloe would knee him in the groin.

At the same time waiting for her to say something was very nearly one of the most excruciating experiences of his life. Admitting to her that he loved her and then being faced with this… nothing was almost more that he could bear. Lex wanted to take her by the shoulders and persuade her that what he was saying was the truth by any means necessary.

Still, Chloe was not someone who would respond to coercion.

She stood up sharply making his jump slightly as she did so. The chair she had been sitting on screeched loudly, teetered for a moment and then remained upright. Chloe herself was still staring at him but she had taken a few steps backwards towards the door and was waving towards it with one hand. “I should… I mean I’ve listened to you and now… now I have to go.”

“No you don’t,” Lex said climbing to his feet. He could seeing something in those wide eyes, something which told him that perhaps his cause was not as lost as he had imagining it to be after all.

“Yeah, I really do.”

“Why?”

“Because… well I just have to.”

She had nearly reached the door, one more step and she would be there and Lex wasn’t entirely sure if he could handle the sight of her disappearing through it. But at the same time he had no idea how to stop her, she had after all done what they had agreed. She had sat there and listened and not if she wanted to then she was well within her rights to leave.

Her back was pressed against the door and it seemed to surprise her that she was there. Fumbling around Lex saw that Chloe had successfully found the handle and was pressing it down. Any moment now she would be gone and so would his last chance with her – of that he was nearly certain.

The thought made his furrow in a frown and he had the suspicion that the prickling sensation that he could feel in his eyes might actually be tears. There was no way on earth that he could give Wayne the pleasure of seeing him get all weepy, all teary-eyed over Chloe just because she had once more spurned his advances. There was no doubt in his mind that the man who had so generously donated his house to this little exercise in confession would be all too delighted to find that Chloe had turned him down once again even if he had previously claimed to want to see Lex set his relationship with Chloe right.

Abruptly a thought dawned on him: what if Bruce had instigated this entire situation in order to finally convince him that continuing to pursue Chloe was never going to come to any good? It was just the sort of thing he could imagine the other man doing.

He couldn’t let Chloe go through that door. He couldn’t give Bruce that satisfaction and he equally couldn’t let Chloe make the huge mistake of walking out of his life once again.

Lex made to move towards her but Chloe instantly held her hand up to stop him. “Don’t,” she said in an imploring voice. “Just let me go. It’s best for us both.”

He seriously doubted that. He honestly couldn’t imagine how life could be better for him if she left but as he let his eyes wander over her features he realised that she was almost desperately serious.

She didn’t want him, he realised.

She really didn’t. It was almost too hard to believe.

He had been holding a hand out to her he realised suddenly. With a determined conscious effort he dropped it back down to his side watching as Chloe nodded somewhat sadly and stepped out of the room.

* * * *

It was surreal. The whole world around her just did not feel real. The moment that the door closed after her and Chloe found herself standing out in the corridor alone a lead weight seemed to descend into her chest and sickness swirled in her stomach. There was absolutely nothing familiar about the corridor even though Chloe knew that over the years since she had become friends with Bruce she must have walked along it a hundred times with him. The dark wood around her looked all wrong, the deep and softly squishy carpet far too luxuriant to be real. Along the corridor Chloe could spy the door that she knew would lead her out and yet beyond it she could only actually register that it lead her into another passageway like the one she was currently standing in and it seemed to her that she was suddenly trapped.

She took a step forwards and leaned against the wall before her, closing her eyes and resting her head against the surface before turning and walking all of a dozen steps down the corridor. Any moment now she knew that Lex would open the door behind her and call to her. What would happen then she had no idea but she knew it would happen.

It had to happen. If it didn’t then what had the last hour of her life been for?

It was only when she realised that there was no call that she stopped. Almost against her own will Chloe realised that she was turning around to once again face the direction of the dinning room.

Where was he? Why wasn’t he coming after her?

If he loved her like he claimed to do then surely he would come after her.

But you told him not to, a treacherous little voice reminded her; the comment coming as if it were a metal slap. You told him time and time again not to come after you and now he doesn’t, now you’ve finally broken him down you’re *disappointed*?

Silently Chloe tried to convince herself that she didn’t want Lex to appear through the door. How could she hate him and want him still to step through into the hallway?

There was only one answer – she didn’t hate him. In fact Chloe realised to her sudden and abruptly mournful horror there was still a part of her that felt just the opposite.

“I love him,” Chloe said softly. “Oh god I… I love him.”

Tears welled in her eyes.

What the hell had she done?

She was back at the door in a heartbeat, pushing down the handle and bursting into the room. Lex turned, a shocked expression on his face, when she did so and Chloe felt her heart break at the sight of him stood there because she knew instantly that there were real tears rising in his eyes and threatening to spill over.

She was crying as she flew across the room, wrapping her arms around him and pressing her face tight against his chest. It was instantly comforting and yet at the same time a horrid notion had entered Chloe that perhaps somehow she had pushed things too far and she was going to push her away this time.

The moment that she felt Lex’s arms close around her shoulders and realised that he had buried his face in her hair was the happiest of her life. The tears were still there though and she choked quietly while trying to say over and over again, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it. Don’t leave me.”

There was a hand in her hair, stroking it gently and then drawing her face back. Lex leaned down and pressed his lips against hers with such eagerness that Chloe was left in no doubt that Lex was going nowhere. Ever.

The kiss broke and she found herself looking up into oddly bright, brilliant blue eyes that shone with the same joy she knew must be in her own. This, she realised, was what she wanted.

And it had been worth the wait.


THE END

~ Final Author’s Note:

Well, I’ve finally done it. I’ve actually been writing this fic now for nearly a year. Its turned out far *far* larger than I ever imagined it would be (I seem to remember saying it would probably only be about five parts long, lol) and I just want to thank every single person who stuck with me while I was battling on with it through several quite frankly horrendous bouts of writer’s block and despite the fact that I went AWOL with it every five seconds and didn’t update when I promised to.

I hope you all enjoyed it,
*hugs*
HumbugGirl

P.S. As promised below you can find the details of the challenge as they were given right at the start. H.


CHALLENGE DETAILS AS GIVEN BY STARFIREIMPRESS:

At the ripe old age of 28 (*note heavy sarcasam*) Chloe is still a virgin. (Why is up to you. Any thing but she&#39;s waiting for marriage.) Her good friends Lana, Clark, and Pete decide it&#39;s high time Chloe got laid. Clark and Pete suggest their good buddy Lex. Lana agrees. (Assume she and Chloe have met Lex but only barely know him.) Clark and Pete present the idea to Lex who agrees to seduce Chloe. (His reason for agreeing is your call, except he can&#39;t be already in love with her.) Natuarally once he gets to know her he starts falling for her. All is good until Chloe finds out why Lex got with her in the first place.

Requests:
PO&#39;ed Chloe. She should be upset when she finds out the truth.
Grudge holding Chloe. I don&#39;t want her to forgive to easily.
Grovelling Lex, in as much as a Luthor grovels.

Optional:
C & P having to make a deal with Lex in exchange for him agreeing.
Of course the other Luthor males are always welcome.

[Blackberry]

:chlexsign1: :wub: I&#39;m a puddle of mush now... I can&#39;t keep the grin off my face&#33;&#33; :) :) :wub:

BB

[michelle_19781997]

Great from start to finish.

[hickchick]

wow&#33;

that was a wonderful ending to a wonderful story&#33;

thankyou so much for writing this, it was amazing&#33;

great fic&#33; :biggrin: